Wheels of Fate
by dangertux
Summary: If there was one thing that I got out of the series it was that Shu and to a lesser extent Inori were bound by a nearly undeniable predetermined fate. Given that concept I felt the need to continue on the story with a what if and Science meets God concept. Takes place after the "a few years later" at the end of ep22 Hopefully you'll like it. Please read and review.
1. Chapter 1

**Rebirth**

A/N : This is my first attempt at a GC Fan Fic - I had this idea and ran with it. I am way critical of myself so constructive criticism is always appreciated. Hatemail too if you want (I'm not sensitive) lol.

It's not super M rated... But some adult content so be warned I'd say 16 and up...

Disclaimer: I own nothing so please don't sue me... I just do this because it's fun and hopefully someone else will enjoy my ideas :-)

Sephirah Genomics Primary Research Facility : Tokyo

_Day 48 _

_The subject has fully developed. She is a likeness of the original host. More concerning, the subject is starting to display personality traits similar to the original host. We've run a battery of tests and confirmed that there are no abnormal brain functions that would account for this. Additionally, psychological testing indicates that though the subject is highly unstable at times she has no recollection of previous events._

_Physical tests of the subject show increased strength and motor coordination as well she appears to posses the appropriate sensitivity to Intron sequences necessary to create Genomic resonance. It should be possible to deploy the subject in a live testing scenario within the next 60 days._

_Day 49_

_Today's psychological testing results were unproductive. Doctor Kazuma was unable to make any progress with the host. Physical testing today also produced interesting results. In a simulated combat scenario the subject showed hesitation on a target resembling Doctor Ouma's son. Additionally, increased and heightened aggression was noted toward targets that resembled certain members of GHQ. This is indicative that the host may have at least some latent memory capacity. Further psychological evaluation will be needed if this host is to become viable for deployment. _

_Day 50_

_Genomic resonance ratings were off the charts today – however there was a fluctuation in the spectrum. It appears that the host has the ability to generate both positive and negative Intron sequences and manipulate the Apocalypse strain much more. Additional psychological testing today was unproductive, hypnotropic therapy was a complete failure. The combination of heavy sedation and hypnotic technique yielded nothing. Doctor Kazuma indicates no progress, the host is completely internalizing. However, pupilary response and increased heart rate were noted when Doctor Ouma entered the room momentarily. Additionally, the subject's heart rate also dramatically increased when shown images of Ouma Mana. Doctor Kazuma has indicated that he is almost certain that the host retains latent cognitive abilities however he is not sure how this is possible. Further testing, and possible remedial memory condition has been scheduled to remove any unforseen issues. In the meantime the subject is under heavy sedation. _

_Day 51_

_After a thorough cognitive barrage it has become clear that the host does have recollection of previous instantiations. Upon discovering this Doctor Kazuma was called to perform necessary mental recondition, upon beginning the treatment the host completely rejected it. Moments later heavy Genomic resonance was detected in the treatment area. Doctor Kazuma was pronounced dead 8 minutes later. The subject is now locked in solitary confinement under heavy sedation. We may need to purge the subject. _

_Day 52_

_Doctor Ouma asked to speak privately with the host – her conversation yielded no positive information. The subject was completely withdrawn save for one reaction that Doctor Ouma was able to illicit._

"_I will protect him." _

_No clarification was given, and Doctor Ouma declined having knowledge of what the host spoke of. Doctor Ouma was relieved of duty effective 1900 hours today._

_Day 53_

_During continued pschological evaluation and intense hypnotropic therapy the subject began singing for reasons unexplained. Again – the Genomic resonance alarm went off in the evaluation area, there were no casualties, it was a positive Intron sequence reaction._

_Additional extended combat training took place today, this was a two pronged effort using live ammunition. The intent was for the subject to fail the course. However, she survived with surprising results. Intron sequencing confirmed visual accounts that the host was able to change form into her more lethal combat mode and she quickly destroyed all targets. Minus one, the final target a copy of Ouma Shu, she instead disarmed and subdued the target. _

_Subject has become unreliable and is scheduled for termination at 0600 hours tomorrow._

_Day 54_

_The host has escaped during what was staged to look like a routine escort to psychological examination she lashed out and killed the four guards escorting her._

_Subject's location is currently unknown and GHQ has been notified of the incident. All records concerning the host are scheduled to be destroyed at 2100 hours tonight. If the host can reunite with Ouma Shu this may prove inconvenient for Sephirah Genomics. _

_Day 55_

_The location of the host is still unknown, however intelligence reports that at 0900 hours today they have located Ouma Shu's primary place of residence. It will be monitored for appearance of the host, and if necessary neutralization of Ouma Shu. _

_Records indicate that the subject will be psychologically inclined to sacrifice herself for the wellbeing of Ouma Shu, so maximum care should be used to leverage that. GHQ antibodies have been briefed on the capabilities of the host. Theoretically Ouma Shu could become involved in the situation, however medical records indicate that he is blind and should pose little threat to trained soldiers. _

_Day 56_

_No information on the host has been uncovered yet – she has not made an appearance at Ouma Shu's residence either. However, another shocking discovery was made this morning at 0714 hours. Research and development, the primary department that Doctor Ouma Haruka worked in has reported a missing specimen. A prototype Intron modification Genome aimed at promoting nervous system development specifically for treatment of the optic nerve and severe Glaucoma. Additional documentation was found missing at 0939 hours. The missing documentation includes an in depth study of both the void Genome as well as the King's Void. Particularly, extended combat usage of both abilities as well as combination of these with certain Intron sequences, particularly those found in the subject and Ouma Mana. Doctor Ouma was scheduled to be questioned at 2100 hours today by GHQ personnel, however she was not at her residence. _

_Monitoring of Ouma Shu continues and it appears there is no change in his behavior, so it is unlikely either the host or Doctor Ouma Haruka have made contact with him. Authorization has been given to neutralize Ouma Shu before he becomes a threat. _


	2. Chapter 2

**A Bullet To Kill The Pain**

A/N : Continuing on... Hope you enjoy.

Gets more graphic here... I warned you

Disclaimer : Still own nothing...

Shu's Apartment 2150 hours Wedndesday October 29 2042

The muzzle pressed into Shu's temple as he knelt on the floor of his kitchen, bound and prostrate held at gunpoint by his captors, GHQ Anti-Bodies. Their long white trench coats soaked in rain from the storm that was still bellowing outside the quaint apartment on the poor side of Tokyo.

"Do it." He growled. "I have no reason to live. I'm in love with something I'll never have." Shu defiantly leaned his head into the pistol pushing hard as if to force the man behind the weapon to pull the trigger.

"I've read your file Ouma Shu... It didn't do you much credit..." Captain Yan spoke coldly from the living room. "I used to envy you. The hero, the betrayer, the betrayed, your life was like a fairy tale for me Shu."

"Daryl..." The detained boy smirked. "... I remember when I first saw you. Of all the regret I've lived with in my life, one of the biggest was failing to kill you."

"I'm honored Ouma Shu. It's regrettable that you won't see the look on my face when I send you to your precious Inori." 'Kill-em-All' Daryl scoffed as he kicked Shu in the ribs causing the boy to double over in pain and spew blood from his mouth.

"I don't think you'll get the pleasure. There is a special place in hell reserved for people like us Daryl and you can rest assured I'll be waiting for you." Shu spat in return.

The sound of shattering glass from Shu's bedroom interrupted the heated conversation between the two young men. Gunshots sounded in rapid succession, the 'thwapping' sound of small caliber rounds piercing the meaty vital organs of their intended echoed through the domicile.

"Shu!" A familiar cry resonated through the gunfire piercing Shu's heart.

Shu acting out of instinct rolled to his side sweeping out his legs and knocking the man behind him off balance. He staggered backward momentarily before he fell back and cracked his skull on the counter top behind him. The soldier collapsed next to Shu in a violent state of spasm. The boy quickly crawled over to the soldier and laid his body on top of him, feeling for a knife with his bound hands.

"Shu, run!" Inori shouted once again as she engaged another one of the soldiers that had entered Shu's apartment. She was pinned in the bedroom by one soldier and Captain Yan trading gunfire that devastated the thin walls of the cheap apartment. Shu hastened his pace he knew he needed to do something quickly

Finally, Shu had found what he was looking for, a utility knife on the dead soldier's uniform. He quickly, unfolded the tool and began severing his bonds. He fumbled on the floor for a moment finding the weapon the Anti-Body soldier had dropped. Then, he heard it, a yelp of pain from Daryl. He had been wounded, this was Shu's chance. He oriented himself as best he could toward the entryway to the bedroom where he knew the other soldier would be taking cover. He launched himself through the home knocking kitchen chairs out of his way and finally colliding with the soldier pinning him against the wall. He grappled with the soldier momentarily before landing his inhuman hand on the soldier's scalp. Shu grabbed the turf of the man's hair and pulled his head back. Then, he pushed the barrel of the pistol against the man's throat and pulled the trigger. The 9 mm round quickly severed the soldier's spine sending his body into a quick convulsion and finally ending in a limp, lifeless state.

"Well now,___**this**_ is interesting!" Daryl hissed from behind Shu.

A gunshot ripped out in the darkness tearing into Shu's shoulder. Pain surged through the boy's body, but he was not about to give in that easily. He hurled his weight toward the direction of the shot where he figured Daryl must be. A second later he collided with Daryl knocking him to the floor. Shu could hear Daryl's pistol hit the floor and slide away from the two.

"I'm impressed Shu! But can you _**kill**_ me?" Daryl growled, realizing he was defeated.

Shu pressed his hand against Daryl's sweating forehead pushing the back of his head into the door frame. "Yes." Shu replied calmly.

He then smashed the muzzle of the Glock he held into Daryl's gritted teeth. The sound of enamel cracking and finally giving way signified that the pistol's barrel had reached the soft fleshy parts of its victim's mouth.

"Shu... Stop..." Inori's soothing voice came from behind the boy.

Daryl was violently struggling attempting to escape his fate, but Shu's weight was too much for the man to escape. "I'm going to enjoy this." Shu added almost maniacally. The first shot pierced the eerie silence that had befallen the apartment, then another and another until Shu had finally emptied the magazine and the slide of the weapon locked back indicating it had emptied its payload. "See you soon Daryl." Shu growled.

Shu leaned back resting his weight on his knees and eventually collapsing onto his rear end a few feet from Daryl's corpse. He could feel his own blood soaking through his clothes and he felt light headed he from his experience with heavy bleeding that he would pass out soon.

That's when Shu felt slender, soft hands cupping his cheeks and a familiar voice in his ear. Shu could feel the wet strands of soft hair draping over his neck as Inori leaned her forehead against his.

"I'm sorry Shu..." She whispered as she plunged the syringe into the boy's chest. "...I tried to protect you from this." Her last words before Shu went unconscious.


	3. Chapter 3

**To Be Human**

A/N : Still going ... I really hope you guys like this...

Disclaimer : Pretty please don't sue me...

Sephirah Genomics Primary Research Facility : Tokyo

"So... The subject escaped along with Ouma Shu. This failure is almost... Intolerable." The senior officer said from behind his large oaken desk in the dimly lit executive office.

"Sir... He possessed unexpected strength." The younger man protested. "On top of that the girl was there too!"

"Is this not why we spent a fortune training you and keeping you close to him?" The general asked dismissively. "Track them down, use your... '_**Friendship' **_, leverage that and kill both of them."

"I understand sir." Yahiro replied solemnly. His black shaggy hair hiding his eyes in the darkened room.

"Don't make me regret choosing _**you**_ for Intron augmentation over other more fitting candidates..." The older man scoffed.

Ouma Family Residence Location Unknown : 0900 hours Friday October 31 2042

"Inori... Wait, let me go first." Haruka cautioned as she placed a friendly hand on the girl's shoulder.

"I don't understand." Inori responded quizzically as she turned to face Haruka. She shrugged her shoulders and pouted, slightly upset at not being able to see Shu who was stirring in his room.

"Listen, I know you care for him a lot..." Haruka sighed , trying to decide how best to explain her thoughts to the infatuated teenage girl before her. "...Shu has a lot of memories in this place..." Uttering the sentence had become more awkward than the woman originally imagined it would be. "Well what I'm trying to say... He's going through a lot right now... The drug I gave you... It's very powerful. It can cause hallucinations..."

"It's because I look like _**her **_isn't it?" Inori's eyes sank sadly at the realization of what Haruka was trying to tell her.

"Well it's not..." Haruka tried to argue, but that was exactly what she was saying. "I'm sure Shu will be back to his normal self in no time and you two will have everything in the world to look forward to." She felt like her tongue was being torn to shreds by the barbed lie that slid over it and fell from her lips.

Inori was not so convinced, if anything Haruka's words brought more discomfort. "You must think I'm a monster. After all, I'm only here because of you and your team." She looked away from Haruka, as if ashamed of her very existence.

Haruka was caught off guard by this sudden outburst. She had watched Inori's development from an embryonic state twice, and each time the same issues cropped up. Her inner scientist was intrigued, was this proof of the human soul?

"You do think I'm a monster, do you not Doctor Ouma?" Inori asked again, this time more agitated as she brought her crimson eyes to meet Haruka's.

"Do you want my honest opinion on that?" Haruka followed up snidely.

Inori nodded slightly indicating that she was ready for whatever degradation that the woman would give her.

"No..." Haruka paused for a moment collecting her thoughts. "If anything you're as human as any of us." She smiled. "You see... My team and I, as you put it, we designed your body, made the genetic changes necessary to give you the abilities you have... The same as Mana..." Haruka sighed heavily pausing slightly for dramatic effect. "However, I've met you twice, and each time you're the same girl. We did nothing to mold your personality, if anything Sephirah wanted you to be emotionless as your personality didn't fit with their objective for you..."

"I don't understand. Can you explain?" Inori became intrigued, was Doctor Ouma giving her affirmation that she was human?

Haruka was ashamed, this girl despite her intended purpose was in fact a human girl in all respects, save for her supernatural abilities. "You died Inori. Your body was destroyed..." She paused once again. "However, before me today stands the girl that I caught Shu fooling around with three years ago. You are the same in every aspect, from how you act around Shu to the type of food you like." Haruka choked slightly as she spoke. "To be honest, it scares the hell out of me because I _**know **_it's not possible. I _**know **_the fact that you blushed when I mentioned the time with Shu was because you remember what his body feels like pressed against yours. Those aren't memories that I gave you and as a scientist I can't explain how you have them." Haruka's voice quivered slightly as she continued. "The only explanation is the divine, and if that is the case what gives you these memories and this personality also makes you inexorably human. For that I feel remorse. I know that I am truly disgusting for what I've done to you, what I've made you."

"Doctor Ouma?" Inori questioned, she was blushing heavily and a single tear fell down her porcelain cheek.

"Go... The worst that will happen is you will scare the hell out of him. He should still be too groggy to do any real damage." She motioned toward the door of Shu's room. "Leave the door open please... For my sanity..." She laughed.

"Ugh..." Shu groaned groggily stretching in the luxurious bed he had been placed in. His head was throbbing and his shoulder still ached where he was shot. He reached over to the shoulder feeling a bandage and bare skin. Someone must have tended to him. Shu's mind raced trying to remember the events leading up to him being in this bed, that's when he made the realization. His world had changed from a world of darkness to a world of blurry light with the feint outline of objects slowly becoming clearer all around him.

He shot out of the bed in a panic when another blurry object came into view, an object he _**knew**_ could not be in front of him. "Inori!?" He gasped, unsure if what he was seeing was real or hallucination.

"Shu..." She whispered softly, glad that he was awake, and at least mostly coherent. She tiptoed closer to the boy who was sitting straight up in bed, stark white as if he was terrified. "...Don't exert yourself too much..." She offered sweetly.

"Stop! Don't! This isn't real, stay back!" He held out his hands as if to shield himself from some unseen blow.

Inori took a step back, her heart cringed at the words, but they weren't unexpected. She had prepared herself to explain the situation since she brought the boy to this place two days prior. However, none of the words she had practiced made sense now. She grappled internally with her desire to run to him and suppressing her more primal urges until he got reacquainted with his surroundings. She felt a strange emotion sweeping over her, was this frustration, she wondered.

"This is real, I am here." The sentence sounded lame and she knew it, but it was the best she could come up with at the moment.

"No that's not possible! I was holding you when you died! I _**know**_ for a fact you can't be here." Shu protested. He had been tormented by visions of her since that day, and he had convinced himself this was no different. He had convinced himself that he would awaken alone, blind and in his trashy apartment at any moment.

"Shu... I..." Inori stuttered slightly, she had grievously miscalculated how much this particular discussion would hurt.

"You knew you were blind until a day ago also, Shu." Haruka entered the room behind Inori. She offered the initial attempt to the girl out of remorse for the girl's situation, and an understanding of certain female emotions and desires. However, she had no intention of letting Inori drown, so to speak.

"Haruka!?" Shu questioned, now he knew he must be hallucinating. He had not spoken to his surrogate mother in three years and as far as he was aware she had no intention of changing that.

"Yes Shu. You are safe as is Inori. You are both in a place you should find familiar, you grew up here Shu." Haruka added calmly, trying to ground Shu in reality.

"Why? What happened?" Shu's memory was starting to become more clear. He vaguely remembered the firefight in his apartment and killing Daryl.

"Inori showed up a few days ago, and this sparked something of a witch hunt with GHQ and the Anti-Bodies. You were obviously also deemed a threat." Haruka paused, letting the information sink in. "Inori saved you from several of them who were going to kill you, you were injured in the fight..." The woman cleverly danced around important details she had hoped Shu would miss.

Unfortunately for her, Shu was not as ignorant as she hoped. "Inori _**showed **_up? What kind of answer is that? Dead people don't just show up Haruka!" Shu was now enraged, what kind of idiot did she take him for after all?

"Shu... I'm right here, could you please stop saying it like that?" Inori interjected, her soft voice pleading to be recognized.

"Right, well I'll let you two get reacquainted then." Haruka decided that the ice was thoroughly broken for Inori to try again.

Shu however was not happy, as far as he was concerned he had died and gone to hell. He quickly withdrew into a strange and sad silence, his recovering vision focused on the familiar bed. "This isn't real." He muttered under his breath.

"It is real." Inori offered reassuringly. She once again attempted to venture closer to the bed, she made it about six inches from the boys side before she realized that he still hadn't even taken his gaze from the comforter draped over him. "Shu? Are you okay?"

"So... Do you care to explain how you _**showed **_up?" Shu growled, unsure of whether or not the girl standing next to him was in fact Inori or not. It was well known that Haruka had deep ties with Sephirah Genomics as well as GHQ so if this _**was**_ real, anything could have been possible.

"I... Well... I've been..." Inori stuttered awkwardly, trying to figure out how best to say it, or if she should even explain at all. What if she explained and Shu rejected her?

"Please don't lie Inori, you've always been a terrible liar." Shu had a plan. If this was Inori, he was going to make it easy on her, not painless, but she wouldn't have to explain herself.

"I've only lied to you once Shu!" She protested her tone taking a turn toward heartbroken.

"More than that! Or don't you remember? When you told me that you wanted me to leave Funeral Parlor with you?" Shu bit back mockingly.

"I never said that!" Inori protested.

"Well what about the time you told me that you weren't _**giving**_ me your heart and I needed to bring it back?" Shu continued his line of questioning.

"Shu... I've... Always... I love you... Why are you doing this?" Inori was struggling to hold back her tears , not understanding why Shu would do this to her.

"Oh yeah? Well what about the time you told me that Yahiro injured Arise? What about that Inori!? When you tried to hide what you really were!" Shu continued, becoming more aggravated sounding. "Huh? What about that time? No answer?"

"I … Shu! I told you the truth... You said..." She whimpered in reply as she clutched her chest and sank backward using the door frame to support her weight.

Shu's expression suddenly changed, from menacing to a calm smile. "That I would never let anyone hurt you." He stood up and walked toward the girl who was recoiling against the door. "I'm sorry Inori, I had to know. Please forgive me." He gently placed one hand on her shoulder. "It was me who lied, because _**I **_hurt you. I just had to be sure..."

"Shu... I... They brought me ba –

"I don't care, whatever happened it's done now. You're here and so am I. So let's just go from this point forward." He reassured Inori as he placed his index finger over her lips to silence what he had already been able to determine based on Haruka's involvement in their current circumstances.


	4. Chapter 4

**To Feel Guilt**

A/N I have a mostly good idea where I'm going with this... I hope ^_^

Disclaimer : Still don't own it, if I did I would have a lot more money then I do now lol.

Ouma Family Residence Location Unknown : 1015 hours Friday October 31 2042

Shu had left Inori paralyzed against the door frame. She was held in a state of suspension with an endless string of "He loves me, he loves me nots" running through her mind. Her limited experience with human emotion drew to an end in its depth of knowledge, she was unsure of what to make of Shu's reaction.

Were they okay? Was he angry? Did he truly understand what she was? Did he care? Did he still love her?

These were all questions Inori had no answers for. The only thing that she could make out was that she needed to give Shu some space, she reconsidered Haruka's original advice, maybe Shu just needed some time to collect himself. Of course, that had to be it, then he would be right back to the man who promised he would never let anyone hurt her. She had held something of a restless vigil over the boy for the past two days, she decided that it might be time for her to loosen up a bit, and perhaps let her guard down, just for a moment of rest.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen Shu had found his way into the refrigerator salvaging leftovers that he had discovered wrapped neatly on the shelf. He hadn't eaten in two days and was rather hungry. The empty feeling in his stomach that reminded him of his human need to consume matter for energy was made worse by the fact that he was bewildered by recent events. Not least among them was the concern generated by Inori's miraculous reappearance. Though Shu had longed to see her again, feel her touch and be close to her, he was terrified by the way it had happened. For him it felt all too sudden, it felt just like three years ago.

"Don't you think you might have been a little hard on her?" Haruka asked haphazardly from the table where she was intently reviewing what Shu determined was some sort of technical document.

Shu refrained from replying immediately. Haruka rarely asked questions that she didn't already know the answer to, and never left anything open ended. "Under the circumstances..." Shu sighed as he let the sentence hang in the air. "No."

Haruka only chuckled at his seemingly newfound caution when it came to dealing with Inori. "Whatever you say Shu... Whatever you say..." She teased gently. Still, the words had a barbed double meaning that Shu was quick to pick up.

"Oh? So I should have just blindly accepted that someone I thought was _**dead **_was standing in my room, in _**this**_ place, where I can see again..." The boy replied with an equal amount of sarcasm.

"Well in her defense... It appears that there are multiple levels of death, and she suffered only the lesser of the two." Haruka semi-joked, amused with her new discovery as unproven as it was.

"Don't you think I already know that?" Shu snapped.

"I suppose you do, don't you..." Haruka's tone descended into something of a melancholy drone after realizing that Shu knew exactly what she was talking about.

"I'm going for a walk, I need some time alone." The boy replied sullenly. He had suddenly felt like his appetite evaporated into thin air. Likely because of the heavy burden he carried in regard to the former subject.

Inori had thrown away all notions of taking a 'rest' upon overhearing their conversation. Multiple levels of death? What were they talking about. She decided that given Haruka's earlier compassion and open willingness to talk to her it might be wise to ask.

After Inori heard the back door to the house close she waited a moment for Shu to be out of view. Once she felt that he was safely out of earshot she made her way rather stealthily into the kitchen. She was determined to confront Haruka about this death thing. She felt it held information important to understanding her own existence, also, from what Shu said it might have helped her understand him better.

"Doctor Ouma..." Inori called quietly from the border between the kitchen and the open area that served as a living room.

Haruka gasped. "Haruka... And you scared me!"

"Haruka... What was Shu talking about?" Inori asked timidly. She backed away slightly as if she was about to be reprimanded for demanding some kind of classified information that she wasn't privy to.

"What do you mean?" Haruka attempted to play dumb, hoping the girl hadn't heard all of their conversation.

"About death..." Inori clarified, almost bashfully.

Haruka gritted her teeth in an attempt to hide her anger. She hadn't wanted to explain this to Inori after all, it wasn't even her place. This was for Shu, but still it _**was**_ relevant to the girl's circumstances. "Oh..."

Inori stood still her knees were locked as if waiting to receive orders or some type of mission briefing.

"You should sit..." Haruka added as she pulled out the chair next to her. "This is going to be..." She let the sentence hang momentarily. "...difficult." She finished snappily.

Inori paused for a moment wondering what she had gotten herself into before carefully taking the seat provided to her. She turned her attention to Haruka who looked less than enthused about answering the question.

"So... Earlier, I eluded that you were able to maintain your individuality because of divinity. I might have oversimplified a little." Haruka lowered her voice, as if about to impart a great secret. "We've, at least to an extent, known that voids are more than a simple manifestation of the human heart. More simply put, they are the divine spark which makes a person. That's why they can change as a person changes, they are... To use rather unscientific terms the embodiment of the human soul."

Inori nodded indicating that she understood and waited eagerly to hear more.

Haruka paused for a moment, she knew the girl thought she understood, but she hadn't put together a few pieces. That much Haruka was sure of. "But... As you know, when a person's void is destroyed they are as well..." Haruka turned her eyes toward the paper she was reading. "That is the second level of death, when their void is destroyed. Their soul... The thing that makes them who they are, a unique person, human... That is forever lost." She slid the paper toward Inori who began reading it over.

"Martyrs heart?" Inori was confused.

"Originally, we determined that Shu's void, the King's heart as it was called, contained the power to absorb other voids without the use of the Void Genome." Haruka's voice cracked slightly as she spoke. "Upon further research, we determined it was inappropriately named. Shu was destined to bear the King's power, he was the only one that could."

"But what about Gai?" Inori inquired, unsure as to how Shu could have been the only one when she had seen Gai wield the same power.

"He was a false king, he lacked the true power of the Martyr's heart, as well as the guilt that it carried with it. Keep reading." Haruka elaborated.

Inori read under her breath just loud enough for Haruka to hear her.

_The Martyr's heart yields immense power in its host. However it also carries the burden of a force that we have named the savior's guilt. When a void is destroyed, the Martyr will carry the pain of the lost soul into the next level of evolution. Only then when reunited with his queen will the burden be shared between the two. The Martyr's purpose is to sacrifice themselves in order to purify humanity and prepare it for reception into the new era._

_Should the Martyr fail to complete his purpose he will be plagued by the torment suffered by those lost souls until his own soul is extinguished or united with the woman that destiny has chosen as the queen._

"His queen?" Inori asked reluctantly, she was suddenly unsure if she wanted to hear any more.

"Mana..." Haruka added in a hushed almost mysterious voice. "That however is not possible." She followed up.

"I don't understand." Inori kept glancing at the paper in her hands as if the answer would be written before her.

"Shu chose you. His destiny was left incomplete, I know this for a fact." Haruka added sternly.

"How?" Inori felt sick, had Shu been feeling this the entire time?

"Because, we know that Shu carries the burden of at least three souls. Hare, Gai Tsutsugami and Mana Ouma..." The scientist continued. "... There may be others, but we _**know**_ of these three."

"So Mana is destroyed?" Inori was still confused by what she had been presented.

"Simply put yes." Haruka answered bluntly.

"So why am I here?" Inori followed up, afraid of the answer.

"The Genomic special weapons project. Genome enhanced super soldiers. After seeing replay footage of your final battle with GHQ they commissioned Sephirah to create that power in specially selected troops." Haruka's tone sounded as if she was bored with the topic. "It's a lame attempt at harnessing the power of Genomic resonance. You were an obvious test case, but there were others. They are ignorant, compared to the power that Shu alone wields it is nothing, still he has a certain restraint behind it. What the world has seen of him is only a fraction of what he's capable of. Whether he knows that or not, I don't know."

"Restraint... So he will suffer?" Inori murmured.

"For eternity." Haruka replied sadly. "I'm such a bitch." She let her head collapse on the table as she said it.

Inori turned away from Haruka, looking out the window of the small beach house, searching for Shu. He was no where in sight, but wherever he was, Inori now knew he carried a much more immense burden than she ever had imagined. "Shu..."


	5. Chapter 5

**A Matter of Cruelty**

A/N : Really don't know what to say - take what you will from it...

Disclaimer : No, I have not acquired any of the licensing for these characters yet so I still don't own it :-P

Ouma Family Residence Location Unknown : 1048 hours Friday October 31 2042

"That was heart warming." A raspy yet familiar voice echoed down the hallway adjacent to the kitchen where the two women were sitting.

Yahiro, the GHQ contracted Intron augmented mercenary stood in the entryway to the main living space with his firearm trained steadily on Inori. He had, after days of searching, managed to track down the records of this place and determined that at least Shu was here. He was rewarded by finding his other targets as well, Inori and Haruka.

"You know... I've been waiting for this for a long time Yuzuriha. Shu's always been too hung up on you, that's okay..." The young man hissed angrily, much like a cobra, from beneath a veil of long black hair that covered his eyes. "I'll enjoy letting him watch this."

"Why are you doing this Yahiro?" Inori asked calmly, not moving from her place at the table.

"Simple. Revenge, because of you, because of the voids the whole thing Shu betrayed everyone. He let Jun die... No... He killed him!" Yahiro shouted violently, becoming more agitated than he had been before

"Do you have any heart all?!" Haruka protested, quickly standing up to confront the boy and placing herself between Inori and the weapon. "Shu saved you too, you fool!"

"Haruka... Don't..." Inori cautioned.

Yahiro cackled sadistically. "Don't talk to me about a heart lady... I threw that thing away a long time ago." The youth spat as he tightened his grip on the trigger. "You have no idea what it means to suffer do you? Working for Sephirah a cushy life and no fear of the cancer. You sicken me, just like Shu did, you wield power with no responsibility." Yahiro squeezed the trigger, letting the round sail through the air eventually landing square in Haruka's chest.

Haruka gasped as the round pierced her, blood spouted errantly from her chest and she collapsed to the floor. Inori rushed to her aid kneeling by her side into the puddle of bright red arterial blood accumulating on the wood floor of the kitchen.

"Oh... How cute... The monster has a heart." Yahiro scoffed, mocking Inori who was crying next to the woman who had given her life, validated her humanity and helped her to know Shu better. "Here let me send you with her." Yahiro leveled the weapon on Inori once again.

"You don't know about suffering Yahiro... Not yet." Shu growled from the hall behind the insane killer.

"Shu... It's nice to see yo-

Yahiro's sentence was interrupted as he was pinned against the wall. He had underestimated the distance between Shu and himself. Shu was already on top of Yahiro by the time he realized what was happening. Shu had one hand on Yahiro's weapon, the other on his throat pressing him against the wall.

"You say you threw your heart away, and that you know suffering. I think you're lying let me educate you..." Shu's voice lacked the calm methodical flow it normally held. Instead it had been transformed into a rushed almost maniacal sermon-like tone.

"Shu...No..." Haruka gasped reaching her hand toward the boy cautioning him against what he intended.

Shu would not be swayed, his eyes burned with an intense hatred as they focused on the once cocky boy who was trembling in his grasp.

"It's not going to work Shu! Remember only seventeen or younger!" Yahiro choked out the taunt.

"Is that what they told you?" Shu laughed in response, still with seething hatred in his voice.

"Shu! NO!" Haruka baulked once again, violently spewing blood from the wound in her chest.

"Goodbye Yahiro." Shu's hand penetrated the young man's chest. "If you truly have no heart then you no longer need this."

Blue flame whipped through the room encircling the two males as Shu withdrew the familiar sheers. A sharp crackling could be heard as they shattered upon being fully drawn. Yahiro's body instantly went limp, crystallized then shattered in Shu's hands.

As the void energy that had flooded the room began to dissipate Haruka glanced up at Inori, her dying eyes held nothing but pain, not for herself, but for Shu. "Four..." She choked.

"Was that restraint?" Inori whispered as she locked her eyes on Shu's. Her heart ached for him, she knew deep down what he had done. She wished that he had not, she could have protected him, she could have saved him the pain of what he chose to do.


	6. Chapter 6

**God Doesn't Play Dice**

A/N : Nothing...

Disclaimer : Nope don't own it.

Ouma Family Residence Location Unknown : 1818 hours Friday October 31 2042

The late October sun sank low in the sky as the last piles of earth were deposited on top of the shallow grave. The small dry rotted wood board that served as a marker cast a long shadow over the disturbed soil where Haruka lay. Shu forced the spade deep into the ground next to the grave in a single swift motion as he knelt in carefully front of it. He wiped the sweat from his brow leaving a a smudge of brown across his forehead.

"I never thanked you." Shu sighed as he looked past the edge of the cliff before them and to the horizon where the ocean faded into the skyline.

Inori held a silent vigil behind the grieving boy, unsure of what to do or say. She held her own feelings about Haruka, but wasn't positive what Shu's were. After all Haruka had been chiefly responsible for Shu's curse.

"So this is it. It ends for you where it all began fifteen years ago..." Shu stood giving one last glance at the grave. "...I am..."

Inori couldn't be sure, but she thought Shu might have been crying.

"...Grateful." Shu completed the sentence after a moment's pause.

As Shu stepped backward from the grave Inori moved forward, bringing herself to his side. "Shu? Are you..." She let the sentence hang trying to judge his reaction. "...All right?" She brought it to fruition when he didn't react.

"I don't know." The boy replied. It wasn't informative but it was honest.

"She had remorse." Inori murmured under her breath as she forced her hand into Shu's.

Shu thought about the words for a moment before responding. "People only do what they can." He added as if disappointed. "Haruka, she thought that her knowledge and science, my Father's discoveries could save the world. She did what she knew."

"What about you?" Inori asked while giving the boy a sympathetic glance.

"I'm the same. I do what I can." Shu replied as he looked into Inori's shimmering eyes for the first time since they were reunited. "You are crying for her?"

"All of us." Inori replied. "Haruka was the second person to show me how human I am."

"Oh." Shu was unsure of what to say to that, he hadn't realized how important Haruka had become to Inori. "So she told you... Everything?"

"I don't know but I understand enough. That's why I cry for you." Inori said softly.

"Why do you cry for yourself then?" Shu asked his curiosity sparked by Inori's compassion.

"I'm not good enough for you." The girl added sadly.

To this Shu didn't respond. He only tightened his grip on her hand. The sun had now nearly set, and a cool breeze was blowing over the hill top the two stood on. Shu turned slightly toward Inori, admiring the way the wind blew her hair, the way the sun lit the strands in blazing streaks across the orange sky and the way the fading light reflected in her crimson eyes. "Why do you say that?" He asked, still enamored with her mere presence.

"I'm not good enough to share your burden. I'm not the woman fate chose for you." She answered as her eyes filled with fresh tears.

"So... What would you say brought us together in the first place then?" Shu asked sympathetically. "Fate right?" He continued answering his own question.

"But you were supposed to choose Mana." She reminded him.

"I didn't." Shu countered. Moving closer to Inori so that their bodies were nearly touching.

"I know..." The words hadn't brought her the comfort that Shu had expected.

"I chose my destiny based on what I wanted." Shu followed up quickly, hoping to gain some ground and give Inori some consolation.

"Why?" She asked her features becoming nearly emotionless.

"I believe that the only thing that we truly have is our choices. You were mine." He responded reassuringly.

"But you'll suffer." Inori protested.

"I would have either way. I was already in love with you. Even if I chose Mana I wouldn't have had you." Shu replied as he put his arm around the girl in front of him.

She looked up into his auburn eyes as if searching them for the meaning behind his words. "You don't know that."

"Inori, it must have felt like the blink of an eye for you, but I've been without you for three and a half years..." He let his words draw out slowly to emphasize their weight. "I've never suffered more."

"Shu..." Inori pushed herself closer to him never wanting to be away from him again. "...What will happen now?"

He sighed he hadn't thought much about that, after all it had been a rather confusing week. "I don't know... I guess we're probably going to have to go some place else."

"You will fight?" Inori asked concern dripping from every word.

"I don't know. I don't even know who it is that is after us. I just want to be with you, I'll figure out the rest as it comes." He whispered reassuringly.

"Like it used to be." She said smiling ever so slightly.


	7. Chapter 7

**Changes**

A/N : Still don't own anything - :-D Don't sue me...

Ouma Family Residence Location Unknown : 2000 hours Friday October 31 2042

The sun had set and despite their heart warming reunion Inori and Shu now sat quietly in the kitchen eating a feast of instant food that had been scavenged from the cupboards. Where open conversation had once reigned there was only silence and awkward glances shared between the two. Inori had felt closer to Shu, at least for a moment, but one thing was still on her mind. Something she had been afraid to confront him about.

Shu on the other hand just wanted to rest, he had poured out his limited energy attempting to build a satisfactory grave for Haruka. On top of that he was still coping with his sometimes fleeting vision. Though it was head and shoulder's above being blind it still wasn't quite right and felt somehow surreal. For a moment he would see clearly, then the next his world might become slightly distorted or discolored before returning to normal.

Though he was relieved to be with Inori again, he still had an unsettling feeling about the situation. He was reasonably sure that the events of the past could not be repeated but, it was the unknown quantity of what still could happen that tormented him . Shu had grown powerful indeed, but was by no means omniscient and he couldn't help but feel that something sinister was lurking just around the next corner for the two of them.

"Shu."Inori peeped, breaking the silence that had fallen over the two of them. She wasn't sure that now was the right time to confront him, but she craved some sort of interaction. Shu felt so far away when he grew silent like this and it made her uneasy.

"Hmm?" Shu replied with a mouthful of noodles. He looked up from his dinner , indicating that Inori had his attention.

Inori didn't say anything, instead she went back to eating hoping that he would spark some conversation. Not that she didn't have something to say, but she decided now was not the appropriate time.

After Inori didn't answer Shu decided that there was some problem, and it was time to find out what. "Is something the matter?" He asked quietly as he fished around in his soup for a chunk of dehydrated meat.

She looked up again at the boy taking her attention from the sub-par meal in front of her. "I don't think.. I don't know." Her reply was as confusing as she was confused.

"Umm okay." Shu answered before falling silent again.

"You've changed." Inori murmured in a barely audible squeak from across the table.

Shu looked at her for a moment before popping the hunk of what was supposed to be beef into his mouth. "How so?" He asked, genuinely curious.

"Back at your apartment... Then again today..." Inori continued as flashbacks of Shu's aggression ran through her mind. She had seen him fight before, but this was different, this was visceral and carried with it a heavy dash of cruelty. "How you fought was... Different."

The boy pondered her words as he adjusted the matted brown hair from in front of his eyes. He wondered, had he scared her? "Does it bother you?"

"I don't know." She truly didn't, but she knew that at the time it had scared her, how easily he had taken life. She remembered how he used to be scared, timid and she'd have to urge him into battle and even fight for him. She liked it that way, his innocence reminded her what they had been fighting for and she wanted to protect that. "You're just different."

"I was weak." Shu cleared his throat as he choked on the embarrassing words. "I knew a lot of things from the beginning, but I didn't act on them. I knew Gai had horrible intentions, I could have stopped him so many times, but instead I did nothing. Yahiro was the same, I did nothing when he was using me, and people suffered. Good people like Hare, people that never did anything but love." Shu continued remorsefully. "I can't change what happened back then, but I _**do**_ have the power to make sure that people like that don't hurt anyone again."

"What about me? I am the same as Yahiro and Gai?" Inori asked slightly hurt by Shu's supposition.

"That's a lie! You were used like me, you were lead to believe that you could only be one thing. By the time you realized that wasn't the case things had already gotten so bad that you couldn't change them. That _**won't**_ happen again." Shu grumbled angrily.

'Can I really do nothing wrong in his eyes?' Inori wondered to herself. She chose not to oppose Shu's argument, he was partially right, but she still felt she could have changed things had she made more of an effort. Had she taken his hand and run from Funeral Parlor, things would have been different. Had she just hid with him at the end, things would have been different.

"I am guilty too." She whispered.

"It doesn't matter." Shu replied plainly, clearly not willing to accept that she had any flaws.

'Just like before.' Inori's mind fell back to the incident in the school when she had injured Arise and Shu had absolved her actions standing between her and Yahiro. 'I used him once too.'

"I used you Shu, because Gai told me to. I also am responsible for what you are now." Inori said meekly.

"I don't care. That's the past and I love you." Shu replied dismissively. He had known the truth about that incident for a long time, and while it hurt him at the time he was beyond caring, it was just something else he accepted about Inori. "Let's change the subject, I already said the past is just that, something we can never get back."

"That's fine." She blushed as she replied, though Shu had said it before she still felt a strange excitement building in her when he said that he loved her.

"Ugh..." Shu groaned looking at his dirty clothing and hands. "I need to change, and take a shower. I'm filthy."

"I brought clothing from your apartment. It's in the closet in your room." Inori replied sedately.

"Oh..." Shu smiled, Inori had really thought of everything it seemed. "Thank you."

"Mhmm." Inori replied blushing slightly.


	8. Chapter 8

**Late Night Rendezvous**

A/N : Not mine still... Enjoy

Ouma Family Residence Location Unknown : 2211 hours Friday October 31 2042

"Much better." Shu said to himself as he relaxed in his bed. Fresh clothes adorned him and he had taken a shower making him much more comfortable.

He lay in the bed for a moment, restless staring at the ceiling of the familiar room. He remembered the events that began in this place. Mana, Gai then known as Triton, they all grew up here and now he was back here with Inori. It left him with an unsettling, and at the same time comforting, feeling. At least he had Inori that was what mattered most to Shu, his sight was also a secondary blessing that he certainly was not expecting to fall into his lap.

Quickly, Shu's thoughts were interrupted by a rattling and then a heavy screeching sound. At first he was startled by the noise, then he quickly remembered how the old pipes in the house would do that when someone turned on the shower. The first time he had heard it he had run to his older sister in terror until she explained to him the phenomena.

"Back when you were human." Shu whispered. He missed his sister, not the monster she had become, but it pained him that he had never been able to help her. "That's why I pushed it out of my mind for so long..." He added, continuing the depressing conversation with himself. "I'm sorry..." He lamented.

His internal conflict however was interrupted by the void in his stomach reminding him that the instant noodles were not nearly an adequate supper. He decided that he would go in search of additional sustenance and thus began a journey down the hallway into the kitchen. Much to his dismay upon rummaging through the cabinets and refrigerator he found nothing but uncooked or instant food. Though, it appeared Haruka had planned for an extended stay as the refrigerator was well stocked with food. "At least we can have something decent tomorrow." Shu muttered as he prepared a cup of noodles. "I guess Inori will want some too." The habit of talking to himself was not uncommon, he hadn't had many friends after the failed fourth apocalypse and though Ayase and Tsugume would occasionally visit him it was more of something they did for pity sake than a legitimate friendship.

"What are you doing?" Inori's voice rang out softly from behind Shu.

Without bothering to turn around he replied. "Oh... I'm hungry... So I made some food." He wondered if she'd heard his conversation. "Would you like some?"

"Yes, I'm starving." The girl replied.

"Here you go." He picked up the first cup of noodles and turned to hand it to Inori. "Inori! Wha –

Shu jumped back in panic when he set his eyes on Inori, spilling the hot noodles all over himself and falling backward onto his backside at the shock of the burn. The burn however, was not the only thing that shocked Shu. Inori had been leaning lazily against the door frame staring at Shu. She was wearing a sheer black lingerie garment that silhouetted her slender figure and left little else to the imagination.

"Shu!" Inori ran to the boy who was now sitting on the floor dazed by what he had deemed must have been a hallucination. Once she had crossed the gap between the two she quickly knelt down beside him examining to see what all the fuss was about. However, upon finding no major injuries she was left even more confused. "What's wrong Shu?"

Shu was now beet red and even more nervous as Inori crouched next to him giving him an even more interesting view. "Inori... Wha...Why are you... Wearing... That?" His words hardly formed a coherent sentence.

"Shu? Are you all right? You don't look well." She pressed her soft hand against his flushed face attempting to determine if he had suddenly fallen ill, after all Haruka had warned her about the possible side effects of the drug used to restore Shu's sight.

As she leaned over the boy he just kept muttering gibberish about the outfit. "Why W.. Why... Are you weaing _**that**_?" He finally managed.

After the realization that Shu was not in fact dying she sat back on her knees for a moment attempting to answer his rather incoherent question. It had not yet dawned on Inori that her chosen garb was the cause of all the comotion. "I don't have any clothes, I found this in Haruka's suitcase and it is comfortable." She replied plainly.

"Co-Comfortable?!" Shu protested still feeling woozy.

"I don't understand... What is wrong with what I'm wearing?" She recoiled slightly realizing that Shu was uncomfortable. Had she made him this way? She wondered.

"It's just not something you wear around you know just everywhere!" Shu rushed the words trying to make it through a sentence before his mind went fuzzy again.

"I still don't understand. When I lived with you and Haruka she would wear this type of clothing all the time." Inori was still confused. "I think it might be too cold in the winter time though." She tugged on the thin material pulling it tight against her body as if to demonstrate the impracticality of the scrap of fabric that could hardly be called clothing.

"I... Um..." Shu's mouth hung open as the words escaped.

'Does she really not understand? God she looks amazing.' His mind raced trying to collect his thoughts. As he attempted to collect his jaw from the floor.

"That's not designed... For normal wear." Shu finally managed to irk out the words.

"Oh... That makes sense. What is it designed for?" Inori asked innocently.

"Wellllll..." Shu let the singular word hang as he tried to determine how best to explain. "Women wear clothes like that... To feel ummm..." He blushed. "Attractive, you know?" He was hoping she would give him something, anything to go on, some realization of what she was doing to him would have been a great help.

"Attractive?" She replied inquisitively.

"Like you know, to have confidence... Or... Um... Be sexy or yeah...Something." Shu added awkwardly. Even though he was twenty years old he could have sworn his voice cracked from nervousness.

"Sexy? What is that?" Inori continued prodding the boy for more information. This is something that she had never heard of.

"Ahh... You know... Like if a woman wants a man to find her attractive like... _**That.**_ She would wear something like that." He answered the question, he couldn't believe he was having to explain this.

"So if I wear this you will find me _**'Sexy'**_?" Inori continued still not quite grasping the meaning of this new word.

Shu baulked momentarily at the understatement of the century that had just fallen from Inori's mouth. "That would be the idea." He collected himself just long enough to say something mildly clever.

"So if you think I am sexy... Then what?" Inori probed further, beginning to understand vaguely what Shu was getting at.

"Well... I uhh.. I guess the goal would be... If two people found each other... You know attractive like that they would have sex." Shu stuttered.

He now used the word differently, Inori had lost the grasp she thought she had on the concept. "Sex?" Her eyes locked on his , pleading for more information.

Shu still was dazed, but decided he might as well just continue down the path, it's not like the situation could become more awkward. "Well you know … If people love each other deeply, they show it sometimes by having sex." Shu wasn't even sure he was explaining correctly, the only experience he had ever had with a girl was Inori, and she was far from the normal girl his age.

"Have we had sex Shu?" She followed up on the heels of his explanation.

"I ahhh no." Shu stammered.

"Why not? We love each other right?" Inori smiled, not fully understanding the implication of what she was saying.

"Well yes... But umm.." Shu once again realized Inori was sitting in front of him in next to nothing as if taunting him.

"But what Shu? Do you not love me 'deeply' ?" She questioned, her voice taking a slightly hurt tone.

"No I do... But it's supposed to be you know special or something... Like I don't think... Now isn't the right time... Like this... Is wrong." His face was once again on fire and he could feel that his brain was going soft and making it hard to form coherent thoughts.

"What is the point of having sex?" Inori asked.

"Well it's supposed to feel good, and it's how people reproduce. You know... Have kids." Shu explained slightly less nervous as he finally managed to pull himself to his feet and offer Inori his hand.

As she pulled herself up she collided with Shu once again bringing the conversation to an awkard silence, only to be broken by a more awkward question. "I think I understand now... Do you want children Shu?"

"I uhh... I never really thought about it. I guess some day probably." He replied, unsure of the real answer.

"Oh..." Inori paused briefly. "With me?" She followed up.

"Ahhh – if I did yes I would want them with you... Why are you asking all this?" Shu's legs felt weak and he began regretting standing.

"So then we would have sex?" Inori asked still maintaining the innocent curiosity she had had the entire discussion.

"Well... It depends we could before then... But I – I don't know how to answer this..." Shu was frustrated, he had no idea how to explain this. He wanted to do a _**lot**_ of things at the moment, but he didn't want to take advantage of the situation either.

"It sounds like a lot to think about." Inori said as she brought herself closer to Shu.

"Yeah. It is... I think like you're supposed to know when the time is right or something." Shu added.

"Okay." Inori replied softly as she pressed her lips against his. "So it is supposed to feel good like that?" She asked as she broke the kiss.

"Yeah... I guess so." Shu answered, he was still nervous.

"You don't know? Haven't you had sex with lots of girls?" Inori questioned.

"Umm no... Not one." Shu laughed.

"Oh..." Inori blushed, she still didn't quite understand, but she was starting to get a better handle on it.

"I think we should just go to bed, it's late." Shu managed in a much calmer tone.

Inori looked sad, she had wanted more information. She had wanted to know why Shu was being so uncomfortable around her, It was clear however that it was not going to make sense to her tonight, so she just gave in. "Can I come with you?"

"Ahhh... Okay." Shu acquiesced, he determined that Inori didn't understand fully and didn't comprehend the link between the two at all, so he decided it would be harmless. Though he didn't imagine he would be getting much sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

**Who are You?**

****A/N : Thanks for the follows and the reviews they are much appreciated - I'm really glad that some of you seem to be enjoying this. I know this might seem a little lengthy for exposition and cheap har har's but I promise this story goes somewhere :-)

Disclaimer : Still don't own it, if I suddenly become a billionaire and acquire the rights to this, I will gladly take suggestions for a rewrite. Until then this is just for fun ;-)

Ouma Family Residence Location Unknown : 0821 hours Saturday November 1 2042

Shu's eyes shot open as he felt someone jostling him, in a near state of panic he rolled over in bed only to find Inori adjusting herself peacefully next to him, she was still wearing the getup that had caused so much fuss the previous night.

"Going to have to get used to that I guess." Shu scolded himself, he had forgotten Inori had slept with him the night before. It wasn't the first time she had slept beside him, but it had been a long time, and Shu had almost forgotten what it felt like. He sighed heavily as he watched her sleeping. "What now..." He tried to push the worry out of his mind when he was with her, but he knew there were going to be problems – at the very least making a new life. It's not like he could go back to his apartment he was as good as a fugitive at this point. On top of that Inori, for all intents and purposes, didn't even exist. "Breakfast...That's what is now." He attempted lamely, to reassure himself.

After slowly easing himself out of bed in an effort not to wake the girl, he made his way down the chilly hallway. The hardwood floor was cold on his feet and his footsteps made a slapping sound as he neared the kitchen that had been a battleground the day before.

"What to eat..." He asked curiously as he looked through the cupboards and refrigerator. To his satisfaction he managed to find a Tupperware bowl containing leftover Miso soup. "This will do... I'm not feeling like trying my cooking skills." It had been a long time since Shu had cooked for himself, he had subsisted mainly on microwaveable items. His decided disability at the time had made it difficult to make a substantial meal, and his sub par pay didn't make it any easier to afford that type of food either.

As he put the soup in the microwave another flood of worry washed over his mind. "Money... We will need some..." He lamented. He had a small savings, but nothing substantial. Enough for a couple of months at best.

"Good morning." Inori's voice came serenely from behind where Shu was standing.

"Oh... Good morning." Shu replied cordially, hoping desperately that Inori hadn't heard his conversation again. This time, he was not so lucky.

"Are you okay?" She asked as she claimed a seat at the kitchen table.

"Uh.. Yeah I guess." Shu replied nonchalantly as the microwave beeped signaling that their breakfast was at a temperature where it could be eaten.

"You seem worried Shu." Inori , though emotionally challenged from time to time, was able to pick up on most of Shu's emotional inconsistencies. After all, she based nearly all of her existence on his own.

"I would be lying if I said there was nothing to worry about... Want some soup?" He asked abruptly, trying to avoid the former conversation entirely.

Inori nodded in affirmation. She was still in a sundry of disarray from having woken up. Her hair was out of order and she looked tired. Still – to Shu she seemed perfect. "You..." He cut himself off.

'When did I become so timid around her?' He wondered to himself.

"I...?" Inori looked confused.

Shu sighed, he knew he owed her the rest of the sentence now. "...Look really nice." He handed her a cup of the soup.

'Looks nice? She just woke up...What are you doing?' Shu berated himself mentally.

She gently accepted it, looking away slightly to hide the fact that she was blushing from his earlier compliment. "Why are you worried Shu?" Inori pressed on with the former line of questioning.

Shu slouched slightly and let out a heavy sigh as he leaned against the granite counter top behind him. "Well... We have almost no money, we're probably being pursued and we don't even know by who. Aren't you a little worried?"

"I won't let them hurt us." Inori replied sedately as she sipped the soup Shu had given her. "This is... Good..."

"Well I don't have any intention of letting anyone hurt us either, but... Is that really how you want to live?" Shu was getting slightly frustrated. He knew he , and assumed Inori, would be more than capable of fighting. That however, wasn't the point. The point was he didn't want to spend the rest of his life fighting. His was afraid it would ultimately end the way it had in the past.

"What else is there?" Inori questioned blankly. She focused intently on Shu as if she_** really **_had no idea there could be any other lifestyle.

"What else? Like a normal life... Job or school or just whatever, anything but just fighting all the time...It's not like it was three years ago... I can't do that again!"Shu's voice became louder with every word and he sounded slightly annoyed that Inori didn't understand what normal life was.

"I don't understand... What were you doing for the past three years. We can do that..." Inori responded somewhat defensively, she could tell she had upset Shu, but wasn't sure why.

"Well... I mean outside of being completely alone and miserable... I was a teacher, up until a few days ago actually." He responded more calmly this time, he was kicking himself for snapping at Inori, after all she had no experience with normal life outside of her short stint in High School which was interrupted with missions and whatever else came up in conjunction with Funeral Parlor.

"A teacher..." Inori let the words sit on her tongue momentarily. She had seen Shu do many different things, but she had never seen him do anything like that. "Did you enjoy it?"

"I did." Shu added as he picked up his cup of soup and made his way to the kitchen table.

"Why?" Inori asked softly.

"It's stupid..." Shu grumbled as he stared into the rapidly chilling soup before him. "But... I felt like it made a difference." He continued his story. "Most of the kids, they were too young to remember. They were always happy. It's like they lived in another world." He smiled as he reminisced on his time as a primary school teacher.

"You enjoyed teaching them?" Inori asked as she brushed a strand of hair from her face and focused more intently on the boy across from her.

"Yeah – they taught me a lot too. They helped me." Shu became slightly choked up on the words. "They showed me that there was hope."

'Hope...' Inori thought. She knew that concept. After all, it was Shu that had first given her hope, and time and time again he had delivered. "So. That's why you fight like you do now?" She fell back on to the question she had posed the night before.

"For them? Yeah." Shu smiled. "I don't want them to lose like we did, I don't even want them to have that kind of world."

"You said last night though..."Inori was confused. She clearly remembered Shu saying he wasn't sure if he wanted children.

"I don't know – being around children as a teacher is a lot different than being a father. I think I would just screw that up." Shu laughed.

As Inori became further consumed in her own thoughts the conversation fell silent between the two. There had to be a way that they could experience this 'normal' life Shu spoke of. After all, she was becoming increasingly interested in experiencing these normalcies she had only seen in glimpses during her former life.

"Shu..." Inori murmured, holding on to the sentence before letting it free. "We could run and just go some place else, and have a normal life right?"

Shu found it slightly ironic, had Inori listened to that same sentiment from him three and a half years ago, things might have turned out decidedly different. "I suppose so, but to where?"

For this Inori didn't have an answer. "I don't know – GHQ could find us anywhere."

"Well... Perhaps we should just wait it out for now.. Maybe the next time I'll ask some questions before just killing them." Shu joked.

"What about having a normal life?" Inori followed up.

"Well... GHQ has never really done anything on the level. You probably don't exist, and I doubt they'd openly admit to an assassination attempt on a Japanese citizen." Shu rationalized. "Maybe I'm over thinking it, maybe we can just go on."

"Do you think so?" Inori looked at him doubtfully.

"Well, there isn't really much else we can do." Shu scoffed.

"I'm sorry." Inori replied sadly. "I was selfish. I just wanted to be close to you again."

"Don't be sorry for that, I wanted it too. If this is the price, I'll pay it." Shu added reassuringly.

Sephirah Genomics Primary Research Facility : Tokyo

_Day 60_

_It appears the subject has reunited with Ouma Shu. The boy is nearly fully aware of his potential. We have received secondary reports that his combat efficiency is far to superior to that of the subject as well as our other Genome enhanced combat forces. _

_However, this situation does have a silver lining. Research and Development has indicated that the current operating parameters are viable for execution of long term scenario 17B. Both candidates seem to be following the established pattern and the results of the scenario should prove interesting. _

_Initial estimates on cost are in the billions however the yield is unlike anything we have seen in the past. We will go ahead with this plan. Additional resources should be allocated to fallback mechanisms and training and provisioning of additional genome augmented personnel in the event that the two subjects require motivation. For now standing orders are to leave them alone, clean up any evidence of the two and let them continue as normal. Monitoring of their activities for behavior not fitting the scenario should occur however unless deviation is noted no intervention will take place._


	10. Chapter 10

**Expeditionary Force**

****A/N : Not much to say other than...

Disclaimer - Don't own it! :-P

Shu's Apartment Location Tokyo : 1305 hours Saturday November 1 2042

"Inori! This is a really bad idea!" Shu protested. After their rather weighty discussion and a change of clothing into something more appropriate Inori had taken it upon herself to convince Shu to return to his apartment. If for nothing else than to retrieve some of his belongings.

He was currently trailing behind the girl that strode through the outdoor breezeways of the low rent apartment complex without fear or doubt of any kind. "Inori! Wait! They might still be here!" He continued to urge her to take caution. Much to Shu's surprise when they arrived at his front door it was not wrapped in police tape. In fact, there was no evidence of the struggle that had occurred only a few nights before.

Inori was standing in front of the door, also slightly puzzled. She had clearly remembered that the GHQ Anti-Bodies had forced entry into Shu's apartment, she had been observing the entire time prior to taking action and entering the apartment through his bedroom window herself. "It was repaired." She motioned toward the door, indicating the fresh paint on the door.

"Umm... Inori... I really don't think we should be here." Shu was not scared per se more interested in avoiding unnecessary conflict than anything. Inori however, was not having it, she was hellbent on allowing Shu to have something similar to his old life and this would provide ample opportunity to see exactly what GHQ had been up to in the past few days. "Someone is coming." Inori whispered ominously as she ducked into the enclave that led to Shu's apartment.

"Huh!?" Shu, as always was slow to react.

"Shu!? Ouma Shu!" The voice of an elderly woman through the corridor with a shrill sound that pierced the calm of the fall afternoon.

"Oh crap! It's my landlady." Shu whispered to Inori who was still out of sight.

"Should I kill her?" Inori asked plainly.

"What!? No.." Shu motioned for Inori to stay put while he confronted the elderly woman.

Quickly, Shu remembered that this woman had no idea that he had regained his sight. He played the part by turning around aimlessly as if trying to locate the sound of the woman's voice, even though he knew full well she was no more than fifteen feet from him.

"Shu! I've been so worried about you! The police told me that your apartment had been broken into and you were violently beaten." The older woman greeted the boy cheerfully as she pulled Shu into a mothball scented hug.

"Oh..." Shu offered as convincingly as possible.

'Police? What police...? Probably GHQ.' He thought in the back of his mind as the woman continued on.

"I just can't believe it. Why would anyone do something like that to a school teacher!" The woman continued ranting. "I know it's the first, but if you need more time on the rent... ."

"That's very kind Miss Kobayashi." Shu replied softly.

"Don't worry. I know you've had a hard time, people have a tendency to blame you for what happened back then. I don't know why, you were just a boy...You did the best you could." The woman continued her rant as she finally released Shu from her frail grasp. "Oh!" Miss Kobayashi gasped as she caught a glimpse of Inori, who was still lurking around the corner. "Who might you be?"

Inori froze for a moment, she had absolutely no idea how to answer that question. "I'm..." She stammered. "Inori Yuriziha." She finished.

"Are you Shu's –

"Girlfriend." Inori cut her off snappily.

'Girlfriend?' Shu's mind raced, he didn't know why it sounded so odd coming out of Inori's mouth, after all it was such a simple word compared to the actual depth of their relationship. It was so simple that he had never even bothered to qualify their relationship in that sense, oddly, it sounded nice to hear Inori put it that way.

"Oh... How nice for you two! I've never really met any of Shu's friends, but he's a really good boy." The older woman beamed. "She's really cute." Miss Kobayashi said turning slightly to Shu, as if Inori couldn't hear her, and ruffling the boy's hair. "Well... I'll let you two get on with your day. Shu just come visit me whenever you can make that rent payment."

"Sure." Shu added hastily, attempting to end the interaction with his landlady.

Shu stood still with an awkward stiffness while he waited for Miss Kobayashi to make her way down the breezeway and out of sight. Once Shu was content that his landlady was out of earshot, he opened the door to the apartment. Upon entering the unlit domicile he found that the entire unit had been renovated. Gone were the bullet holes that must have decorated all the walls, in fact there were no signs of the struggle that had taken place there. "What an odd day." Shu sighed as he began looking around the apartment for any sign that the struggle a few nights ago had been more than just a figment of his imagination.

"I thought she was nice." Inori interjected in a mild mannered tone.

'Nice? Inori is really acting strangely today.' Shu thought to himself.

"Yeah – but... Don't you think it's a little odd that everything is just like it was before all of this happened?" Shu questioned as he drew an imaginary arc with his arm, indicating to Inori that the apartment was in fine condition, a state far from what it should have been in.

"You said yourself – GHQ would never openly admit to an attempted assassination on a Japanese citizen." Inori used Shu's words against him.

Shu knew them to be true, after the failed fourth apocalypse GHQ had come under heavy investigation by the United Nations and other foreign powers. In fact they were all but disbanded. They no longer had the power to act without reproach however they clearly were still exercising quite a few underhanded dealings, judging from the events of the past week alone.

"It's not just that..." Shu sounded worried. "...It's like they just want me to get comfortable. Like they are leaving us alone on purpose." Shu had spent much of his adult life reviewing the events leading up to Inori's death, obsessing over specifics attempting to determine the root cause that allowed all the pieces to fall into place. The one constant he had always been able to pick out was that GHQ always would let a situation play out without their involvement and act only when it suited them. This left him wondering what scenario they were letting play out now. "I don't trust it."

"Shu..." Inori moved closer to him, finally wrapping her arms around his waist. "You can't fight something you can't see." She once again turned his words against him as she rested her cheek on his shoulder. "You should enjoy peace while you have it."

"But..." Shu grumbled. "I hate doing nothing and just waiting."

"So stop waiting... Just live." She added reassuringly.

'Strange indeed.' Shu noted again. "I... So... Girlfriend huh?" He changed the subject realizing that arguing was futile, she was right, despite the fact that Shu didn't like it. He couldn't fight something he couldn't see.

"Am I not your girlfriend Shu?" Inori questioned sadly.

"Well , I mean I just never thought about it that way." Shu replied awkwardly, hoping he hadn't injured her feelings with what was meant as a playful taunt.

"Oh. Isn't that what normal people would call it?" She asked as she let the boy out of her arms to explore the rest of his apartment.

"I guess... But we're not exactly, you know, normal." Shu laughed as he headed into his bedroom.

Inori didn't answer. Instead she began looking around Shu's apartment. She had lived with him before, but that was under Haruka's roof. She had a strange curiosity to explore how Shu lived when he was on his own. To her dismay she didn't find anything interesting, in fact Shu owned next to nothing. "Shu... Is anything missing?"

"Nope, looks like everything is here." He responded from the bedroom closet.

"But... There is nothing..." She sounded sad as she set her eyes on the red and white cane that was leaning in the corner of the small living room.

'He needed this because of me...' She thought to herself.

" I don't have much, didn't really have use for anything." He replied awkwardly.

"Oh." She continued into the kitchen and began searching through the drawers, nothing interesting, only cutlery.

"Found it!" Shu exclaimed from the bedroom.

"Found what?" Inori asked as she made her way to see whatever it was that Shu had discovered. "... Your phone." She did not understand the significance, a new phone was relatively inexpensive, why would Shu be so intent on retrieving this.

"Yep." Shu replied happily.

"Why not just replace it, isn't this the same one you had when we first met?" She asked staring at the antiquated device.

'It wasn't even top of the line technology when he had first gotten it, why was he so interested in holding on to it?' She wondered.

"I have some important stuff on here." Shu replied, quickly stuffing the phone in his pocket.

"Can I see it?" Inori asked bashfully engaging his eyes with her own.

"Um.. You wouldn't find it interesting." Shu stammered, slightly embarrassed.

"How do you know?" She reached for his arm, his hand was still buried in his pocket with the phone. "Let me see."

"Inori! It's personal." Shu recoiled turning his hip so that the arm and phone would be out of reach of the girl.

"Okay. I won't ask again." She pouted.

'When did this happen, she never would have acted like this.' Shu thought. 'I guess I'll just let her see it.' He took her hand and gently placed the phone in it. "Here. Go ahead, I have to go the restroom." He said as he moved into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

Inori quickly began looking through the phone. The saved numbers yielded nothing. Only entries for Haruka, Tsugumi, Ayase, Souta as well as an entry labeled work. The last call placed was to Ayase six months prior.

No text messages, not surprising. No saved voice mail. No saved pictures, again not surprising. Then she made her way to the saved media folder, eight songs, all hers. "Shu..."

'Was he...Alone?' She wondered.

"Happy?" Shu asked from behind Inori. She hadn't heard the toilet flush, and didn't realize he was standing there. "Can I have it back now please."

"Nobody called." Inori responded blankly, it didn't make sense, it was all she could muster at the moment.

"That's typical." Shu responded as he took the phone and put it back in his pocket.

Inori watched the boy for a moment. "Shu... My songs... You still listened to them?" She asked, her voice full of emotion, not sadness, not happiness, something in between.

Shu sighed heavily, his back was still facing her. "It's the only way I could hear your voice."

She hung her head, had he really suffered that much in her absence? "Shu.." She made her way over to him standing just inches from him. "I'm here now..." She offered timidly. Her heart felt heavy in her chest as it beat faster with every passing second.

"Inori I..." He pulled her closer, his cheeks were flushed.

A loud buzzing and stiff vibration came from Shu's pocket startling him momentarily. "My phone is ringing?" He added awkwardly.

'Shu.. You what!? Please finish that...' The girl's mind was screaming.

"Hello?" He answered the phone.


	11. Chapter 11

**Awkard Reunion and (Stolen) Secrets**

A/N - Getting toward where we're going and some cheap laughs at Tsugumi and Shu's expense.

Disclaimer ... Still not mine... Regrettably so...

"Hey Shu... Umm.. I know it's been a long time. I found something that you need to hear... Can you umm. Come over?" The young hacker sped through the words, as if trying to not to say anything, but still imply a sense of severity.

"Umm sure, I'll be there in about an hour." Shu replied as he hung up the phone.

"Who was that?" Inori asked, frustration was dripping from each word.

"Tsugumi , she sounded... Like it was urgent, we should go." Shu replied to the girl that was still in his arms.

Tokyo Main Line Route 46 Train : 1405 hours Saturday November 1 2042

The young couple stood on the crowded rail car as it sped toward the stop that Shu had indicated was the closest to the shared apartment of Tsugumi and Ayase. Inori had zoned out, staring out the window watching as buildings sped by. To say she was frustrated would have been an understatement, she didn't truly understand the emotions she was feeling but they were certainly there. What was Shu going to say? Why had he hid that from her? What happened to him in the three years they were apart? These were all questions that were running through her mind, she craved information that would answer them as if it was the air she was breathing.

Shu also stood mostly in silence, the weight of everything that had happened was finally starting to lift from his shoulders and he felt as if he could relax a little bit. Despite the odd events, Shu believed Inori to be at least mostly correct in her presumption about GHQ. He felt that there would , at least for the time being, not be further confrontation with them. Why, that was something he couldn't answer. More interestingly, Inori's behavior had begun changing, slowly at first but today much more drastically. They had always shared an understanding that one sort of belonged to the other, but that had held no surprise. Today their relationship had seemed more lively, less was taken for granted, it just felt more... Honest.

"Shu..." Inori perked up slightly, diverting her attention from the window back to the brown haired boy standing next to her. "... What did Miss Kobayashi mean when she said people blamed you?"

Another question he didn't want to answer, though he suspected there would be many more. After all, Inori had been out of the loop for nearly 4 years. "After the incident... A lot of people held a grudge against me..." He replied somberly.

"Why?" Inori was confused, why would they be mad at Shu? After all wasn't he the one who saved them?

"People blame whoever they can. It's not like the UN or GHQ or even Sephirah were going to take credit for what happened. I had a face they could pin blame on." Shu elaborated.

"Oh.. So what happened?" Inori asked, looking back out the window.

"You know, the typical stuff. Death threats, harassment, I even got attacked a few times...Nothing too major." Shu laughed trying to make light of the clearly uncomfortable situation.

'Nothing major...' She hadn't wanted this for him. She wanted him to have peace, the kind that she had at the end. 'Perhaps that is why I'm here.' She pondered. "It's going to be okay now." She said quietly. "I'm sure of it."

"This stop is ours." Shu pointed to the train station ahead, ignoring Inori's attempt at reassurance. Not that he wasn't grateful, he just preferred to have let the past been what it was the past.

The two exited the train shortly after it reached the stop and fell into an easy, but awkward stride. Inori was a step behind Shu, not really knowing where she was headed, she let him lead the way. Still the unanswered questions bothered her as they strode down the busy Tokyo sidewalk.

"It's not far." Shu said evasively, he knew full well Inori had more questions.

The girl simply nodded in understanding as they quickened their pace slightly.

Ayase and Tsugumi's Apartment : 1512 hours Saturday November 1 2042

"Well here we are!" Shu exclaimed standing in front of the doorway. This apartment was unlike his, it was a classy high rise building with all the latest amenities. Ayase and Tsugumi had done well for themselves mostly due to Tsugumi's inventive nature. They had created and marketed a distributed information system similar to the one used during the communication blackout during the blockade of the 14th ward. On top of that Tsugumi was an avid software developer who had frequently dabbled in projects relating to artificial intelligence, no doubt inspired by her own experiences with Funell.

Inori however, was not as excited to be there. She felt awkward, after all, how was she to explain her existence. Neither Ayase nor Tsugumi took things in stride like Shu did, and there would likely be the need for great exposition on the happenings leading up to her appearance. Regardless, Shu knocked lightly on the door to signal their arrival. Inori instinctively sunk back, just out of view of whomever would open the door.

"Shu?" Tsugumi's voice came from inside the apartment

"Yeah." Shu replied.

"Oh okay one second I'll be right there." She replied heartily.

Moments later the door slid open and Tsugumi greeted Shu. "Hey come in.. Wait... Where's your cane?" The girl started turning red.

Shu was so interested in finding out why Tsugumi had called him he hardly noticed that the girl standing before him was wearing nothing but lacy pink underwear. In the past this wouldn't have been an issue but given the recent events and the return of his sight he could see why there was cause for concern. Unfortunately, Shu, despite his many endearing character traits was undeniably a member of the male sex and his gaze was immediately drawn to Tsugumi's assets, which while nice did not rival her monetary assets in splendor.

Tsugumi could feel her face heating up as the sudden realization dawned on her. "Shu! You pervert!" She screamed, lamely attempting to cover herself.

"I... I'm sorry..." He muttered barely audibly.

"Wait a second! I'll be right back." She replied sheepishly as she let the door close.

'So it's already happened.' She thought to herself as she ran to fetch clothing for herself.

"I told you that it was normal attire Shu." Inori mocked, she had not partaken in the exchange but found it amusing nonetheless.

"Normally, I wouldn't have even noticed." He replied pointing at his eyes.

"Did seeing her dressed like that make you wish to have sex with her?" Inori asked curiously.

"No! I think we're going to have to revisit that conversation at some point." Shu tried to push back on the question as much as possible. However it was too late Tsugumi had once again opened the door and was gawking at the two lovers.

"Ummm..." The younger girl's jaw was practically on the floor, she had no response for any of this.

"Oh – Tsugumi... So what was it you wanted to tell me?" Shu tried ineffectively to change the subject.

"You can see, an ability that you are _**presumably **_enjoying... And Inori is standing here... So I guess nothing!" She said out of frustration. Her find as she had been calling it to Ayase had already been found. "Well you might as well come in since you're already here."

The three made their way into the lavishly decorated apartment and toward the living room. "So Shu... _**What**_ have you two been up to lately?" Tsugumi chided the boy.

"So, I see you've found Inori, and I see that you must have also found Haruka because you've taken the Genome enhancement thing, that's how you got your sight back." Tsugumi continued on.

"Umm.. How did you know about any of that?" Shu questioned, wondering exactly how Tsugumi had become privy to any of this information.

"Oh! It's all right here Shu." She added as she plopped on the couch showing the boy her computer screen. "You see, I have this little habit, you know left over from Funeral Parlor. I like to check out Sephirah and GHQ computer systems when I get the time." She snorted slightly as she laughed victoriously. "Well I found one, I thought it was just some random workstation somewhere and it ended up being just that. However, it belonged to someone relatively high up in Sephirah because I found what appeared to be a journal of events. Events that explain the situation that you're in right now."

"I see..." Shu said before falling silent indicating that he wished Tsugumi to continue.

"Well – like I said, you know everything I do. I was only able to get up to Day 55 of the log file before they caught me and kicked me out of their network." She sounded almost defeated. "I do know that they were going to try to kill you."

"Hmm, thanks. But why did you wait until today to call me?" Shu asked, truly curious as to the reason.

"They must have been jamming your phone at the cell provider. I've been calling you non-stop since I read this. So has Ayase!" Tsugumi protested. "You know... I was really worried about you Shu!" She added leaning gently against the boy that was sitting on the couch next to her.

Inori wasn't sure why, but she was rather unhappy with that. A strange feeling flared up in the pit of her stomach at seeing the cordial interaction between the two. It became an even more violent reaction when Tsugumi got closer to him.

"You know after all that's happened, we don't want to risk losing you again." Tsugumi added sadly.

"Ahh well that's okay I'll be fine." Shu replied to the concern awkwardly. He hadn't told Inori about _**that**_ incident yet and wasn't looking forward to explaining it.

"Shu... What happened?" Inori had known that he had been hiding something about the past three years, but she wasn't sure what.

"Oh dear. You didn't tell her yet did you?" Tsugumi asked sheepishly. "Well... Since it seems we're going to be here a while I guess I'll go make tea. Ayane should also be home soon."

"Haven't told me what Shu?" Inori seemed almost bitter with the question.

"Well I did tell you, I had some problems – it wasn't a big deal." Shu said with an unenthusiastic tone in his voice.

"It wasn't a big deal? You almost died Shu!" Another familiar voice came from the entrance to the living room, it was Ayase, who had at some point entered the home. "Oh and hi, it's really good to see you again. How come you never call?"

'Almost died? Not a big deal?' Inori was confused.

"I... Don't know..." Shu responded glumly.

"No worries, you're here now." Ayase said cheerily as she made her way into the living room deftly navigating her wheelchair through the obstacles created by the expensive furniture that was placed strategically around the apartment. "Inori... Welcome back" Ayase smiled at the girl who had been standing awkwardly the entire time. "Sit down, make yourself at home."

"Why did you almost die Shu?" Inori questioned as she took a seat on the plush sofa beside Shu.

"Well... Umm..." Shu didn't know how to admit it, he was ashamed of his actions. It was a low point, even for him, where low was pretty normal.

"I can... If you want Shu." Ayase offered reassuringly. Shu's nod gave her the go ahead to spill the news. "After everything happened, Shu had some problems with depression." Ayase choked slightly on the words as she tried to hold back her tears. "He was getting help for it, but... It didn't really work, the doctors couldn't even begin to treat the kind of issues he was dealing with." Ayase paused for a moment.

"I don't understand." Inori had a puzzled look on her face.

"I tried to kill myself Inori." Shu finished the thought bluntly.

"He hadn't been in touch in days. We were all very close back then. Ayane went looking for him and found him in his apartment." Tsugumi added as she returned with tea. "Anyway, it appears that our Shu is doing much better now and that was a long time ago." She was attempting to bring levity to the situation.

Shu was rapidly becoming uneasy awaiting Inori's response to all of this. In truth he just wanted to escape the situation. As Tsugumi had said, it had been a long time ago, and he had no intention of repeating the incident.

"Shu..." Inori wasn't sure what say. Instead she just reached for his hand and eventually intertwining her fingers in his.

"Yahiro's gone." Shu admitted, thankful for the opportunity for a change of subject. "He was apparently in GHQ employ and attempted to kill us. He succeeded in killing Haruka." Shu let the news break as if it were a weather report.

The room fell silent. Both Ayase and Tsugumi were surprised at his confession, they knew that Yahiro had harbored aggression toward Shu, but never that much.

"That's unfortunate." Ayase added. She knew it had been Shu that killed the man. She had seen what he was capable of first hand. "Are you both okay?" She offered her concern.

Inori nodded as she realized that three years had apparently changed quite a bit. Her better understanding of Shu's past made it more clear exactly why and how he had behaved as he had the past few days. She also couldn't help but wonder if the state of his depression was linked to her death, as temporary as it may have been.

"So Shu... I'll keep digging and see if I can find anymore of this file." Tsugumi chimed in breaking the silence. "I think, judging from what I've read thus far, they will probably leave you alone for a while anyway. I'm not sure, there is a lot of technical crap in here that doesn't mean anything to me, so I can't say for certain."

"Where are you staying?" Ayase questioned the two.

"We're staying out in the country, where I grew up." Shu added.

"Ah, and do you have everything you need?" Ayase followed up, eying the plain jeans and t-shirt that Inori was wearing. It clearly belonged to a woman with a much fuller figure than Inori.

"I need to go shopping." Inori replied picking up that Ayase had noticed that she was clearly wearing a dead woman's clothing.

"Of course. I can take you if you want. Shu you don't mind do you?" Ayase asked cheerfully.

"I'll just stay here with Tsugumi I guess." He replied, clearly not interested in going shopping with two women.

"Shu... Are you sure?" Inori sounded worried, in fact she was not quite sure about leaving Shu and Tsugumi alone. The exact reasoning however, still eluded her.

"Yes, I'll be here when you get back." He replied giving her hand, which was still tangled in his own, a slight squeeze of reassurance.


	12. Chapter 12

**A King is (re)Born**

A/N : First off thank you everyone who took the time to post an in depth review. In this next section, I've tried to take into consideration as many of the suggestions that were made as possible and or that I saw fit for the story.

I'll be perfectly honest with you though, I don't know how I feel about this. I've redone this chapter three times already, as well as the two after it. I have an idea, and I'm not sure that I know how to get there from here. This is the best thing I could come up with that I was happy with... So... Hopefully you enjoy this. With any luck I'll have the conclusion to this scene finished by tonight.

I still own nothing.

Ayase and Tsugumi's Apartment : 1930 hours Saturday November 1 2042

"They sure are taking a long time." Shu grumbled from his sanctuary on the lavishly decorated sofa in Ayase and Tsugumi's living room.

"Nah... They're doing girl stuff! Just let them be, it will probably be better for you anyway!" Tsugumi answered maniacally. The fact that Shu was blissfully unaware that Inori was probably attempting to find something 'cute' for his sake amused her to nearly no end. In fact only one thing amused her more. She had almost regained access to Sephirah's internal network and she was hell bent on retrieving the remainder of the file once she did. "You want chinese?" She diverted her attention from her endeavors momentarily to ask the boy if he was hungry.

"Hmm. I guess." Shu wasn't particularly interested in Chinese, then again he hadn't had a real hot meal in days so it did sound intriguing.

"Okay! What do you want?" Tsugumi who subsisted almost entirely on take out and highly caffeinated beverages asked excitedly.

"Surprise me." Shu added less than enthused.

"Hmm... Well you seem like a broccoli beef kind of guy, am I right?" She joked.

"Sure." Shu couldn't help but crack a smile.

Tsugumi quickly flipped through a few screens on her computer and deftly placed the order for their meal. "30 minutes!" She announced excitedly. 'Now back to my mission.' She thought to herself as she became enthralled in her continued assault on Sephirah's network.

"You really wish Funeral Parlor was still around don't you?" Shu asked as he watched the girl hacking away furiously.

Tsugumi barely heard him over her thoughts, shell code and memory addresses ran through her mind as she attempted to force entry into what she considered a rather poorly secured target. "I don't know." Tsugumi answered wistfully, she wasn't actually paying attention to him, she just sort of heard him.

Shu didn't bother to respond, there wasn't much he could say to such a noncommittal answer.

"Dammit!" The teenager snarled smashing her fist against the table in front of her. "That didn't work... Let's try this!" Her eyes lit up with the fire of mischief and invention combined.

"Maybe you should take a break..." Shu urged in vain. He knew full well how Tsugumi was when she was determined to do something. He in fact remembered a time in which she had stayed up for four days straight upgrading Funell's memory capacity.

"HA! I got it! Who's awesome? Me! That's who!" She gloated at her successful retrieval of the file.

Unfortunately, reading the contents of the file would have to wait. The door bell rang indicating that their food had arrived.

"Dammit, hold on I'll go get it, just wait here you're going to want to see this!" She exclaimed as she rushed toward the door.

Shu wasn't sure why or what, but something was pushing him. Telling him to glance over at the screen. Quickly, it said to him, you don't have much time.

_Day 61_

_Information security and intrusion detection reports indicate that an __**intruder has obtained access**__ to our network. Upon further investigation we have been able to determine that it was a __**Funeral Parlor**__ ex-patriot going by the name__** Tsugumi Sendo**__, she has been located living with another former Funeral Parlor member __**Ayase Shinomiya.**__ Both are believed to have ties __**Shu Ouma and Inori Yuriziha**__ , authorization granted to __**terminate immediately**__._

'That wasn't forty-five minutes.' Shu's mind was skimming trying to pick out the important bits of the communique. "Tsugumi stop!" He shouted as he raced toward the door.

Ginza Shopping Plaza : Location Tokyo 1942 Hours Saturday November 1 2042

"Ayase... We need to leave soon." Inori said with a noticeable hint of concern in her voice.

"Hey but we haven't even eaten yet, and you still need a few things." Ayase scolded.

"No. Something terrible is going to happen to Shu. We need to get back." Inori's voice was frightened. Ayase had never seen her like this, not even in the most dire of situations

Ayase and Tsugumi's Apartment : 2004 hours Saturday November 1 2042

"Shu! What are you –

Tsugumi was cut off as her breath was knocked from her lungs when Shu's body collided with her own. Seconds later the door slid open, there was no delivery, at least not of Chinese food. Instead tear gas poured into the apartment, followed by a hailstorm of automatic weapons fire. The silenced weapons rang out in a muffled succession of dull hisses as Shu threw himself between Tsugumi and their attackers, quickly pushing her away from him and toward the back of the apartment.

"Run!" He gasped as several rounds tore through his chest splattering blood on the elegant designer paint that adorned the walls of the apartment.

"Shu!" Tsugumi cried out as she awkwardly made her way through the blinding tear gas into the rear of the apartment.

Searing pain filled Shu's body, he once again was without sight. The metallic taste of blood and burned cordite soaked his mouth. He flailed lamely at the intruders, attempting to give Tsugumi at least something of a head start toward the fire escape. The last of his energy failed him, he couldn't breath. Shu collapsed to his knees in a convulsing, choking, heap. Finally, blackness, the end he had hoped for not that long ago had finally caught up to him. At least that is what he thought, however fate had other plans for Shu.

? ? ? 

"Where am I?" Shu's voice echoed through the nearly infinite darkness that he had been plunged into. Panic set in and pangs of fear washed over him, had he died?

"Don't be afraid Shu." A small, shy and eerily familiar female voice echoed out from behind him.

"Hare... I am dead?" Shu asked as his tone grew more somber.

No answer. Instead Shu found the brunette teenager standing in front of him, extending her hand as if to help him stand. "Hare?" Again he questioned as he reached for the girl's small hand. Awkwardly she pulled him to his feet smiling at him as he stood before her and locked his eyes on what had to have been some sort of hallucination.

"You're not dead Shu... Not yet." The girl frowned faintly as she averted her noticeably sad eyes from his.

"Where are we?" Shu questioned as he stepped back from the timid youth in front of him. She hadn't changed at all, she was still wearing her school uniform the same as the last day he saw her alive.

"You don't recognize it?" She asked as the two were transported to the familiar audio video club room where Shu had first met Inori.

"I don't understand." Shu protested as he made his way toward the rickety, rusted staircase where he had spent numerous hours toiling over various issues. Inori being one of them.

Hare turned toward Shu, presenting a cheerful smile as she reached for his hand and took it into her own. "No... I suppose you don't." As she wrapped her fingers around his he felt a sense of weightlessness as the scene around them once again changed. They now stood in an alleyway, surrounded by gunfire and screaming voices. "How about this , do you recognize this?" She pointed to two teenagers laying on the ground soaked in blood.

"That's..." Shu tried to speak, but the words never came.

"Us." Hare smiled. "Don't feel guilty Shu, I chose to do this." She pointed in the direction of the injured girl before them crawling toward Shu's unconscious form, reaching with every ounce of her strength, attempting to save the boy.

"What is this Hare?" Shu grew more insistent this time. What was going on and why was Hare next to him showing him these things?

"This is your heart Shu. This is the guilt you carry and it's your curse." Hare frowned as the words left her timid lips.

The two were once again shrouded in blackness as the smell of burning cordite and sounds of combat faded from the air.

"We're all here Shu." Hare said sadly. "The heart's of those that suffered void death, you alone carry our burdens."

Shu felt a chill reverberate down his spine that caused his body to nearly convulse with a shiver. "It's cold." He noted as he wrapped his arms around himself in vain.

"We're _**all **_here..."Another familiar voice.

"Yahiro?" Shu asked of the darkness surrounding him. As the name rolled from his tongue, Yahiro appeared standing beside Hare. .

"I don't understand Hare..." Shu reached for the girl's arm as if looking for comfort. She allowed it, but did not reciprocate.

"Shu... I know it's selfish... But if you die now, we are lost with you." The brunette teenager said weakly, as if pleading with Shu.

"Hare?" Shu questioned as he tugged on her arm, spinning her to face him.

"I didn't want this for you..." Her brown eyes had transformed into teary pools of sadness. "I had hoped that things could be okay for you back then." Hare wrapped her arms around the confused boy and rested her head against his chest, holding him tightly against her for a few moments. "I have to let you go now Shu... I feel so bad about it but this isn't where your path ends."

"Hare..." Shu reciprocated the hug as he felt Hare's tears soaking his shirt. "...What is..." He felt warmth surrounding them as the bandages that represented her heart encircled them in a bright blue light. "Don't leave. I don't understand... Wait."

"That time... I'm happy I did it. So don't feel bad for me okay?" She interrupted his sentence to kiss him gently on the forehead before she disappeared and the warm embrace she had pulled him into faded.

Shu felt himself surrounded by a strange humidity and in the blink of an eye was transported to the musty school gym where he had first confronted Yahiro's alter ego "Sugar". His eyes were still stinging as he forced himself to hold back his tears, he hadn't wanted Hare to leave, she had always been a pillar of strength for him and in truth he still wasn't over the fact that she was gone from the world.

"You know Shu... I should have realized how strong you were back then." Yahiro said slyly as he stood on the bleachers behind Shu. "I never knew this happened." The young man pointed at the vision of Shu that stood between Inori and a younger Yahiro.

Inori's pistol was trained on Shu as he held out Yahiro's void in an attempt to defend Yahiro from the slender girl in front of him. "You killed Haruka and tried to kill Inori as well." Shu growled

"Maybe we're all just victims of circumstance. What do you think Shu?" Yahiro smiled a wicked sneer as he asked the question. "If you hadn't met Inori, we'd just be normal adults now. Maybe I'm slightly jealous. You know, we had a lot to look forward to, but we were robbed Shu."

"What is your point?." Shu asked lamely.

"Oh come on Shu. It's not like I'm asking you to forgive me, I think we're way past that." Yahiro shook his head as he laughed. "I'm asking you to accept what you are. You're a monster Shu, and if you're not willing to embrace that to defend the ones you love, then you're a coward too-"

"Shut up!" Shu interrupted.

"Let me finish." He continued pointing at Shu's younger self. "Look... Remember _**this **_Shu? That doesn't look like a coward to me." The scene surrounding them changed to the temple where Shu had fought his final battle with Gai. "You're not afraid here either... So stop feeling sorry for yourself and stand up and fight Shu!" Yahiro barked as Shu felt him placing the cold handle of the shears in his hand.

Once again Shu was standing alone in the darkness, the metal blades still in his hand as if they were beckoning him to use them. "We're_** all **_here Shu..." A soft female voice said, a voice Shu could never forget. He could feel a hand pushing on his back as if urging him to go forward toward his fate.

"Mana..." He whispered as he was re- immersed into the world of the living.

Ayase and Tsugumi's Apartment : 2016 hours Saturday November 1 2042

Tsugumi's attempt to evade the GHQ antibodies that invaded her apartment had failed. She had been disoriented by the tear gas that burned angrily in her eyes and lungs and as a result had collapsed in a corner. She was now surrounded by several soldiers who wished to execute their orders and her along with them. However, what she saw next terrified her the most. She could see Shu collecting himself from the broken pile he had been on the floor, and in his hand Yahiro's shears of life.

One of the soldiers raised his weapon to target Tsugumi and said. "Sorry kid... It's not personal."

As he took aim, Tsugumi saw the shears burst through the man's chest. He spasmed violently before collapsing limply in front of her.

"Sorry...It's not personal." Shu scoffed as he withdrew the blades from the dead soldier and quickly swung them to his right, decapitating another soldier. A stream of blood fountained into the air and rained down on the remaining soldier as well as a decidedly horrified Tsugumi. The body collapsed to the ground with a dull thud.

Shu was soaked in the blood of the intruder's and his eyes burned with an almost demonic ferocity as he pinned the remaining soldier to the wall with the now blood soaked weapon he wielded so viciously. "Why can't you just leave us alone?" Shu asked of the terrified soldier.

No answer came, instead the man just stood in silence, petrified by what had happened to his comrades.

"Fine..." Shu sighed as he withdrew the blade from the man's shoulder held it to his throat.

"Shu! Stop!" Tsugumi screamed from her vantage point. "It's over you don't have to kill him!"

Shu held the man at the end of the weapon momentarily pondering Tsugumi's proposition. "They would have killed you..."

"She's right Shu." Inori's soft voice rang out from the entryway to the apartment that now served as a monument to bloodshed. "Let him live." She continued as she made her way toward the boy and gently wrapped her arms around his blood soaked shoulders tugging him away from his intended prey.

"Fine... But if you ever come back... I will destroy you..." Shu growled at the Antibody as he lowered his weapon. The soldier immediately bolted for the door, knocking Ayase from her wheelchair in the doorway.

"Come back to me Shu..." Inori whispered in the boy's ear. "I'm sorry I wasn't here. I should have been able to protect you."

Shu let the weapon fall to his side, as it hit the floor it dematerialized. "I...I'm a monster." The boy said as he hung his head in shame.

"Tsugumi? Are you okay? What happened here?" Ayase scrambled back into her wheelchair and over to her roommate.

"I... Don't know..." Was the only reply Tsugumi could manage.


	13. Chapter 13

**Together as One**

A/N : I feel a LOT better about this chapter... Enjoy :-)

Disclaimer : Don't own it...

Shinjuku Station Platform 19: 0004 Hours Sunday November 2 2042

A bitter wind swept through the loading mezzanine of the nineteenth platform of Shinjuku station. Shu stood on the precipice just before the chasm that housed the rail car tracks. He was staring listlessly into the darkness as he embraced a frigid gust that chilled him to the core. He had been standing in this same place for nearly an hour since he had fled the apartment where he had once again relinquished his humanity and embraced the gift that had been so carelessly bestowed upon him.

"I suppose I deserve this." Commenting on his current status, alone and freezing. Despite Inori's reassuring touch he had fled from her as well as his other friends. He could not , in his opinion, have faced them. Not after what they had seen him do. Not after seeing the monstrosity that he had become. "Alone. This is where I belong." This time his voice was more cruel, almost self-deprecating in nature.

As he lamented his current situation, his thoughts drifted back to the place where he had left Inori and his friends, in the wake of a disaster fueled by nothing other than his own cruelty.

Ayase and Tsugumi's Apartment : 2031 hours Saturday November 1 2042

"Shu? Are you okay?" Inori's soft voice reached out to him, trying to break the spell that had fallen over him. His wrath left him paralyzed in the midst of the maelstrom he had given form to in the living room of the once classy domicile.

With bloody hands resting on his legs he stared wildly into nothingness. His pupils were dilated and his eyes fixed on the hands that had wrought so much carnage. His mind replayed the horrific scene that now lay behind him. He was left with nothing but questions, how could he be so heartless, how could he so willingly throw away any sense of normalcy for his own self-preservation?

Ayase and Tsugumi were nearby, awestruck at the destruction which Shu had so readily dispatched through what was a peaceful home not three hours before.

"Shu..." Inori tried again to illicit a response from the youth that leaned listlessly , resting his weight on his knees. She walked lightly toward the boy as if not to disturb the twisted mantra he had fallen into. She rested a single hand on his shoulder, attempting to offer some iota of comfort. "Shu?"

He did not turn to meet her gaze, he did not place his own hand over hers, he did nothing. "You should stay away from me."

Inori recoiled slightly at the bitter tone in his voice but forced herself to continue to hold her hand out to offer comfort to the boy that had so many times offered her the same. "Shu?" She was confused, why would he push her away?

"I'm disgusting and I will never do anything but hurt people." Shu lamented as he weakly brushed her hand from his shoulder. "Just stay away from me."

"Shu... Wait." Inori attempted to stop him. Yet the momentum he placed behind his steps as he left the apartment seemed to carry an inertia too great for even her to subvert.

She didn't follow, not immediately, instead she hung her head sadly as tears filled her tired eyes. Had she come so far to lose him to the burden that he alone was forced to carry? Was it his destiny to be without hope and comfort of any kind?

"What now?" Tsugumi asked cautiously of her room mate as she surveyed the broken remnants of the home.

"I don't know." Ayase answered honestly, the calamity that had come crashing into their otherwise peaceful life starting with the return of Inori had finally come to a climax in something that not even the normally very logical woman could rationalize or plan through.

"I'm going." Inori whispered as she glanced toward the door, making it clear her intentions were to pursue Shu.

"You're going to follow him?" Ayase asked, slightly annoyed that she and Tsugumi would be left to clean up the mess that was their life.

"I have no choice." Inori answered flatly.

"Yeah, I guess not." Ayase followed up, she knew that Inori was right. Shu was the singular constant that had driven Inori since shortly after they first met. To attempt to derail that now would only lead to more catastrophe, and she knew that. Shu had arguably not been stable in years, if he could have ever truly been called such a thing. "We'll handle things here, I suppose." She offered, less than enthused about the task ahead of her.

Shinjuku Station Platform 19: 2351 Hours Sunday November 1 2042

Inori had quickly caught up to Shu but stayed careful to remain out of his sight. She had not yet decided how to confront him, admittedly her own emotional depth left her in a curious predicament when attempting to deal with situations like this. She knew she wasn't prepared for it, she didn't truly understand her own feelings , not completely, and certainly not Shu's. Worst of all, in this particular case, the stakes were higher than she would have liked them to have been.

"Shu..." She muttered under her breath. The one undeniable truth in her life the one person who had given her a reason to live, he had given her humanity and he was now on the edge of losing his own. It was a situation she could sympathize with but she feared desperately that she could not offer him the same escape that he had granted her.

Shu paced down the cold concrete walkway toward the railway station. The streets were eerily quiet and the normal bustling crowd was nowhere to be seen. Only a few passers by that seemed to regard him with a mild mannered disdain as if they'd known his sins. The light of the moon shone through scattered clouds that threatened snow as the air temperature dropped more with every passing moment. Every step he took fell heavily on the ground, he was exhausted everything that had transpired had left him drained physically as well as emotionally, and he was eager to end his journey.

Eventually he came to a halt at the edge of the nineteenth platform. He knew that this line was no longer used, there would be nobody here, this was a place he could be alone with his guilt. As he stared into the darkness he pondered if the rail line's third rail was still electrified. "I suppose I deserve this." His words echoed through the cold night.

Inori leaned against a large pillar just within earshot of the boy. The cold concrete caused a strange burning sensation on her skin, even through the sweater she was wearing. A gift courtesy of Ayase, a symbol of a normal life that seemed could never be hers.

"I could end it all here." Shu lamented as he looked toward the rails below the platform. "Then they wouldn't suffer."

Inori's heart skipped a beat. 'Is he going to kill himself?' She wondered. Inori was unaware of Shu's intentions, but they could not have been well placed, not after what he had been through.

"Would you forgive me?" Shu ran his human hand over the crystalline arm that was symbolic of his void. "It doesn't matter." He took a step closer to edge of the platform. "...And Inori... Would she understand?"

'No... I don't understand.' The girl's mind raced as she forced back a sob. 'Why is he doing this?'

"Some will say what I'm doing is selfish." Shu took another step toward the edge, he was only a foot from his demise. "They're wrong... This is for all of them. They don't understand as long as I live so does she."

The tension had finally reached a critical apex and Inori knew she had to do something. "I know what you were going to say." Her words cut through the cold air as she revealed her position behind the pole.

Shu was caught off guard, but not necessarily surprised by her presence. It was not unlike Inori to have followed him, though this was not particularly something he wanted her to see. "What?" He asked confused by the seemingly random statement.

"At your apartment. I know what you were going to say." Inori said as she quickly attempted to close the gap between them.

"Oh..." Shu hung his head dejectedly, realizing he had been caught doing something extremely shameful.

'I was going to say I was lost without her.' He thought to himself as he picked up his left leg preparing to take another step forward. In his mind, his continued existence would only serve to hurt his loved ones more. 'But it's better to end it here.' He continued to himself.

"Don't..." The word fell heavily from Inori's lips as if it were pulled down by the immense gravity of the emotion it carried.

"Don't what?" Shu asked as he set his foot back down on the hard surface below him.

"... Make me feel that." She finished as her eyes filled with tears and she edged ever closer to him.

Shu stood as if rooted in place by her words. Had she truly understood him? The realization that his actions would in fact mortally wound Inori began to dawn on him.

"I... Can't... Not without you Shu." Inori's words while broken needed only to make sense to one other.

"Inori... In the end I'll only hurt you more. Look at me, look at what I've done!" Shu protested as he turned to face her. Inori's cheeks were red from the cold, her lips were quickly becoming chapped and her eyes held nothing but sadness.

"Even if you hurt me, you'll still be there." She croaked as she finally was within reach of him. "You've always been by my side even when I wasn't really myself anymore."

"Inori.. You don't understand." Shu lied, he could tell she understood but something inside him still pushed him to fight. "I've done horrible things."

"There is more to you than that. That's why I love you, I've seen how what you've done hurts you." Inori argued.

"I can't be alone with my guilt anymore..." Shu's voice filled with sadness.

Inori locked her eyes on his as she took the final step negating the space between the two. She gently cupped his face in her shaking hands and said. "So don't be. I'll carry the burden with you."

He closed his eyes as he felt her soft touch swallowing hard he replied. "I can't. That's too much to ask."

"Let me live for you, the same way you did for me." Inori smiled softly as she whispered the words that were meant only for him.

Shu didn't respond. His resolve was slowly fading, as her words intoxicated him with the promise of the love he had been missing for nearly three years.

"I understand now Shu." Inori continued on as she pulled him closer to herself.

Still he couldn't bring himself to respond. Staring into her eyes, he couldn't argue, he was at peace. If only for that moment. For now, he was safe from his transgressions. In her arms, nobody could judge him.

"I love you Shu and I want to give you everything that I am." She smiled as she leaned in and softly kissed him. " And I want you to give me all of you, even your pain." Inori continued as she pulled her lips from his.

"I love you Inori." Shu said softly. He wrapped his arms around her slender waist and held her tightly against his body. "I just don't think you know what –

" It's not your choice to make, it's mine." She interrupted him and followed up with another kiss to prevent him from finishing the sentence. "Stop thinking, just live." She whispered.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N : First off - I'd like to thank everyone for all of the constructive criticism, reviews and generally wonderful comments you've given me on this story so far. Lost Guy, Ognik, and GuiltyKingOumaShu stand out the most. However, everyone who has commented, PM'ed me or otherwise provided feedback, thank you. It's truly humbling that you've taken the time and I'm glad that you're enjoying it. If you're not enjoying the story but still made it this far - thanks for trying to stick with it. I'm always open to suggestions, though they may not make it into this fic, I have several other ideas for GC fics that I am exploring currently. So don't feel afraid to throw out comments and questions etc...

That being said, the time is here - enough of the build up. The best way I can explain is by using a common Internet catch phrase. "Shit is about to get real." Still rated T, but for the upcoming chapters younger audiences may want to run for the hills - you've been warned. Enjoy!

Disclaimer : I still don't own it... Wish I did. But I don't.

**Breaking Point**

"_My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together."_

_~Archbishop Desmond Tutu_

Ouma Family Residence: 1000 hours Saturday November 7 2042

Shu stood on the expansive wooden deck that overlooked the cliff where his late step mother Haruka was buried. Beyond the makeshift grave marker he could see the ocean, a gray brooding miasma, made so by the thick dark clouds overhead that threatened snow at any moment. A biting wind whipped through the semi enclosed porch leaving Shu's long brown hair in disarray. Winter had come to the countryside sanctuary where Shu, Inori and their two companions had fled. Though it was a rash choice, it seemed at the time like the logical decision. Following the intense battle they had unanimously decided, as all creatures who survive being hunted do, that there was safety in numbers. So they took refuge in the place where it had all begun.

For the most part they had spent the week taking something of a mental holiday. After all, the events that had transpired had come to pass so quickly no one had time to react. Shu had been in an almost constant state of conflict since Inori had returned. So much so that the massive impact of her return as well as the return of his sight had taken a backseat to the battles that ensued. The impact was equally severe on Tsugumi and Ayase who had lost their home as a result of being targeted by GHQ Anti-Bodies, and that was discounting the incredible return of Inori and Shu's surprising development. Inori had remained seemingly unaffected throughout the ordeal save that she kept herself closer to Shu than ever. This particular moment however was different. Shu had managed to make his way outside without drawing Inori's attention. She as well as his other two house mates were still asleep in their warm beds away from the unforgiving elements that surrounded the boy.

It wasn't so much that he was purposefully avoiding her as it was his attempt at seeking a sanctuary of his own. Inori had hardly let him out of her sight since the incident at the train station. Shu couldn't blame her, it was a natural reaction, but it still gave him the sense of unease as if she didn't trust him when he was alone. Then there was the look. She had, on numerous occasions, worn an expression that Shu could not place. Almost as if she was holding something back. Inori was normally withdrawn, but this was something more, as if she was trying to say something but couldn't find the right words to express it. Shu was curious, moreover he couldn't help but fight the urge to believe that it was because of his actions that she had become more withdrawn and odd than usual.

Sighing heavily, he leaned against the wall of the home as the buttoned his coat so as to maintain more of its valuable warmth. It was then that he heard the storm door on the porch open. He didn't bother to look , he already knew it was Inori. She stood at the threshold between the deck and the much warmer living room observing the situation in silence. Her eyes eventually fell on Shu who was still leaning against the wall.

"Good morning." She offered as she pulled the wool blanket that was wrapped around shoulders tightly around her.

"Hey." Shu replied weakly.

Inori slowly made her way toward the wall where the boy was resting and leaned next to him. "Did you have trouble sleeping again?"

"Yeah." Shu looked away, hiding his eyes as he replied to her. He had been having nightmares for the last week. These however, were not run of the mill nightmares, they were terrifying visions that haunted him leaving him sleepless and distraught. So much so that they usually resulted in him stalking off to some darkened corner of the house where he felt he wouldn't be heard. He didn't want anyone, especially Inori, to hear what he said in the clutches of the terror that pervaded his sleeping world.

Inori didn't offer a response at first. Instead, she shifted slowly along the wall until she was directly along side of him. Pushing the blanket out of the way of her arm she reached for his hand.. "You don't have to be ashamed." She whispered softly. She had known about the nightmares. In fact she had listened to his heartbroken pleas wondering what, if anything, she could do to ease the pain.

Shu turned further away from the woman beside him, he was not interested in confronting his demons in the light of day anymore than he was at night. Sensing that he wanted to change the subject, Inori kindly obliged. "We should do something." She said cheerily.

"Do something... Like what?" Shu asked, confused by the sudden distraction.

"You grew up here didn't you?" She asked with something of a playful look in her eyes.

Shu nodded , acknowledging the fact. Still he didn't have many memories of the place, at least not ones he chose to hang on to.

"Show me what it's like." Inori added rather insistently.

Shu wasn't particularly in the mood for an adventure but it did seem like a good diversion, and maybe it would help him forget about the night terrors that had been plaguing him. "Okay." He agreed

.

Ouma Family Residence: 1115 hours Saturday November 7 2042

"Where are the love birds?" Tsugumi yawned grouchily as she made her way to the kitchen table where her friend Ayase was already seated.

"Not sure." Ayase replied, glancing up from the book in front of her. "I think they went out this morning." She continued.

"Oh.. And you're okay with that?" Tsugumi joked. She had long suspected Ayase of having a crush of sorts on Shu and frequently mocked her for the supposition.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Ayase sneered as she took a sip of the now cold coffee that had been sitting beside her notebook.

"You see... It's my experience that Ayane tends to develop feelings for all the boys she can't have." Tsugumi sing-songed to emphasize the taunt. Upon seeing that the wheelchair bound girl was becoming aggravated with the sarcasm Tsugumi quickly changed the subject. "So what's that?" She pointed at the notebook in front of Ayase.

"Nothing." Ayase replied as she quickly closed the book.

"It doesn't _**look **_like nothing. What is it?" Tsugumi prodded harder.

"You know. You would think you'd learn that your curiosity gets you in trouble more often than not." Ayase scolded, reminding Tsugumi of the reason that they were forced to flee their home. "...But if you_** must**_ know... It's a diary." She continued, lowering her voice slightly as if the fact that she kept a journal was a secret from the world at large.

Tsugumi paused briefly, she had never known Ayase to keep a diary and she found it odd that suddenly she had started doing so. "When did you start doing that?" The younger girl continued probing..

"I used to keep one back when we were in Funeral Parlor, and I just thought I would do it again." Ayase answered as she wheeled herself to the counter and refreshed her coffee. "I guess I feel like, in case we don't make it... If someone finds this, they'll know what we did." She added morosely.

"Wow. That's kind of sad Ayane..." Tsugumi was caught off guard by the seemingly macabre answer. "Hey is there any more of that?" She was referring to the coffee, which also provided an escape route from the conversation that was quickly becoming uncomfortable for the flighty girl. She hated emotional subjects, it wasn't her strong suit. Despite her sex she much preferred cut and dry technical matters.

"No... That's all there is." Ayase smiled. She took small pleasure in knowing that she stood between Tsugumi and her caffeine fix, after all it was well deserved after she had made fun of her various infatuations.

"No problem." Tsugumi snickered and clapped her hands. "Funell coffee!" She ordered as the small robot came whizzing happily around the corner. Once Tsugumi had placed the creature on top of the counter beside the coffee pot it dutifully secured the proper ingredients and began preparing the pot. "Upgrades. See!" The girl declared triumphantly as she smiled at her handiwork.

Ayase simply rolled her eyes at the irony in the fact that Tsugumi had likely spent hours writing a program for the robot to make coffee when it would have taken only a few minutes for her to have done it herself.

"I know what you're thinking Ayane. But if you're going to do it more than once, you should script it. It saves time in the end." Tsugumi tried to rationalize with her counterpart as she picked up on the slight disdain for her methods.

Kamagura, Kanagaway Prefecture: 1201 hours Saturday November 7 2042

"Shu." Inori said quietly as she stopped in her tracks.

"Yeah?" Shu asked, curious as to why she had stopped.

"Is this not fun for you?" She asked as she placed her hands on her hips. Her bright red sweater and dark colored jeans contrasted starkly with the gray cobblestone paved streets of the run down shopping district in one of the oldest parts of the small city. Everything else was bathed in a dreary shade on account of the weather, thus giving the illusion that she was the only thing alive in the nearly deserted part of town.

"No... It's okay." The boy protested as he noticed the visible change in her demeanor. Normally she was content to simply follow along with whatever he was doing. However in this case it seemed like she wanted him to be more animated, a feat that wasn't easy considering the heavy burden he carried combined with a painful lack of sleep.

"We can go back home if you want." She offered sympathetically as she wrapped her arm through his.

'Home.' Shu's mind played the word back again and again. It didn't fit, he never felt this place was his home. Not that he felt any more comfortable in Tokyo, in fact, he'd never really thought of anything as home. "Inori." He tried to say something but he couldn't quite put the words together.

She looked at him quizzically for a moment wondering if he was okay or not. She was studying his eyes, looking for some hint of what he was trying to say.

"You're acting different lately." The sentence he had imagined much more eloquently in his mind fell flat in the cold air. "Not that it's bad...It's just different." He attempted to dress it up, but the truth was , that was exactly how he felt.

"I don't know how to act around you sometimes." Inori replied bluntly. "I wanted to make you feel better. That's what a normal girlfriend would do right?"

There was that word again, it had an awkward ring to it the way she used it. "I don't know... I've never really had one before." Shu attempted to laugh away the awkward conversation. Suddenly, he began regretting even questioning it. He had always been happy with their quite, needy, and somewhat codependent relationship. He was unsure of what Inori's endeavors would yield, but they were bound to be awkward. After all, it wasn't even two weeks prior that he had attempted to explain the finer points of intimacy to the girl. 'Talk about the blind leading the blind.' He berated himself mentally at the thought.

"When we were shopping, Ayase told me I should be more aggressive." Inori blushed slightly as she explained the discussion they had regarding the 'stalking' of the male species.

'Talk about the blind leading the blind.' Shu's mind made a recursive jump back to the previous thought. "Why?" He asked of the nervous girl beside him.

"I don't know. She never got to explain." Inori shrugged as she continued walking, nearly dragging him with her.

"Sounds about right. Where are we going?" Shu chuckled at the irony that neither Inori nor Ayase were particularly aggressive.

"Food... But." Inori slowed their pace once again, trailing behind him now. Her footsteps fell heavily on the damp pavement below as she eventually came to a halt. "Do you think it's stupid?" A slight hurt tone overtook her voice as she asked.

"Not really. It's just different, not what I'm used to." He was shaking his head. He could clearly see that he had upset her, unintentional as it may have been. Shu sighed in frustration seeing that he was not making his point. "Nevermind. I'm just messing things up."

An expression of confusion passed over her soft features as she looked intently toward the boy for exposition on how exactly he was "messing things up". Shu noted her almost piercing gaze that clearly signaled she would demand an explanation. "You don't understand what I'm saying do you?" He asked plainly.

Inori shook her head and softly said. "No." It was simple, but it spoke volumes.

Shu had taken their relationship for granted and he knew it. In the past a lot of things had gone unspoken and he had just assumed they had been understood. Now the very real possibility that they were in fact misunderstood was beginning to dawn on him. "You were gone for more than three years..." He began slowly. "...I used to tell myself every day, if I saw you again, there were so many things I would tell you. Things I didn't have the courage to say back then, things I thought were you knew. Things you probably needed to hear." Shu pushed through the words despite the knot forming in his throat. "Even with everything that's happened. I'm still a coward. I can't even look you in the eye and tell you how much I missed you. I let you follow me around just like you used to, people died, I killed them and still I can't even say that I love you. Not without being prompted. I've faced death and I've faced life alone in the darkness, but I can't face you for long enough to say three simple words. I'm disgusting Inori, and I have no idea why you even care about me."

Inori stood in silence, intent on hearing his words. Finally, after what felt like an eternity Shu spoke and for the first time it was the truth.

"The worst part of it is that I was angry. When I was alone all I did was hate, I needed you. I was jealous that I couldn't have just died... I was scared I didn't know what to do without you.." As Shu's confession came quicker his voice cracked from the stress of letting out the hateful emotion that had been bottled up for so long. "That's who I am Inori. I'm not the hero that Ayase seems to think I am. I'm certainly not the sympathetic and humane person you think I am."

"Stop Shu." Inori held up her hand as if to hush the harsh words.

"No. You say you love me, so you need to know. This is who I am." Shu's voice had turned bitter and each word dripped with toxic venom.

"That's not true." She fought back against the onslaught.

"Did you see what I did to those GHQ soldiers? What about Daryl? They all deserved it. I judged them all, I wanted them to suffer so I made it happen." His gaze turned steely as he focused his thoughts. "The more I think about it, I just want to punish them all. They couldn't stop me. I could kill them all." He hissed.

"Enough Shu... You need to rest. Let's just go home." Inori had heard enough. She wasn't going to watch him tear himself down in the middle of a shopping strip.

"No – Shu started to protest, but the sentence was cut short. Suddenly his eyes rolled back in his head and his knees gave way. His body made a heavy but muffled thud as it collapsed to the ground.

"Shu!" Inori's momentary frustration had turned instantaneously to concern as she found herself running to protect the boy who had collapsed for no apparent reason That's when she felt it. An impact then a sharp sting in her shoulder, followed by an intense burning that spread through her shoulders and into her spine. Had she been shot?

Inori spun around, hovering over Shu protectively while searching hysterically for her opponent.

"Now now precious... Don't get yourself worked up. We just want to borrow him for a while." The snakelike voice came from behind her, dripping with a familiarity that terrified her.

"How?" She asked weakly as she felt herself becoming drowsy. She fought, making every effort to lash out at him but found herself inexplicably weak.

"Miss Yuriziha, you of all people should be aware of the miracles that Sephirah is capable of performing. After all you're one of our most beautiful accomplishments." The wild eyed man scoffed. "Also, please don't try to struggle. That dart contained a low grade neuro toxin designed to suppress the use of some of your more unique abilities while we take care of this incredible young man."

"Shu..." Inori grappled to hang on to him, grasping at his coat, as he was dragged toward a plain white panel truck, that had been parked on the nearby street corner, by three GHQ anti-bodies.

"There's no need for all of that. We're not going to hurt Shu-kun. Much." He sneered, turning a cold eye to the crippled girl. "Try not to worry – you two have amazing things ahead of you, we'll have him back home before you even know it."

She felt the world fading into a warm fuzziness as she slowly lost consciousness. "Shu... I...Sorry..."

"Hey you two – drop the lady back off at the beach house, leave the other two. We don't want anything bad happening to her. She will be instrumental in all of this." The man barked the instructions to his subordinates.

"Yes major!" The two large men echoed in unison.


	15. Chapter 15

**Thrust into the Abyss**

A/N : Sorry it's been so long. I've been very busy, and to be honest I toiled with this chapter for a LONG time. I know where I want to go, and how I want to get there, but this was a hard one for me to write. It was really sad for me when I came up with the idea. Overall I'm happy with how it came out. Thank you for all the support of this fic, and I hope you enjoy reading this as much I enjoyed writing it. Updates should come more frequently now.

Disclaimer : Still own nothing...

_I have no idea what they did to him that day. I only know that it must have broken him. Now he is lost._

_I remember the timid boy that I trained so many years ago. I know I will never see that boy again._

_I'm sorry, I never wanted this for you Shu..._

_~Excerpt from the diary of Ayase Shinomia~ _

Sephirah Genomics Primary Research Facility : Tokyo 1900 Hours Saturday November 7th 2042

"Wake up Shu." A cold voice and a heavy handed slap to the face wrenched Shu from his unconscious state. As his eyes opened, bringing their surroundings into focus, Shu could see Segai standing over him with a wicked smile across his face. "It's time for you to realize your purpose."

Shu shook his head groggily attempting to sit up from his prone position only to realize he had been bound at both wrists and ankles. "What is this?" He questioned, observing the cruciform altar he had been tied to. The room was completely dark save for a single incandescent bulb that hung between Shu and Segai, casting them both in a dramatic light.

"This is where you will complete your rebirth. Something I've waited to see for a long time Ouma Shu." Segai smiled grimly as the venomous words dripped from his mouth.

"This can't be real. I watched you die." Shu growled , pulling at his restraints as if he were a trapped animal.

"That's a bit rude don't you think?" Segai smirked. "I've missed you. You showed me the light Shu, the power of a true King, and now I simply want to celebrate your glory."

"What the hell are you talking about?" The confined boy struggled harder against the bindings as he questioned the clearly deranged Major that was standing over him.

Segai began circling the altar, his hands were behind his back and he hunched forward likening his appearance to that of a vulture observing its next meal. "Surely you don't think everything that has happened is purely happenstance do you? The life you've been living lately, it doesn't seem familiar to you at all?" He hissed. "Everything has happened exactly as it should, everyone has played their part and now here you are on the cusp of your destiny."

Shu's mind raced attempting to decipher the cryptic message bestowed upon him by Segai. "Played their part? What do you mean?"

"Your friends, your enemies, even me. We all served one purpose. To bring you to where you are today. Everything that has happened in your life, all of the challenges you faced. Those were the trials of a king Shu, and you have proven yourself worthy of the crown you will wear. All that you have experienced so far was only the beginning." Segai continued circling around the prostrate boy as he imparted his story. "Since before you were born, this destiny was chosen for you."

"You're lying." Shu barked, cutting the officer off.

"Do you believe that Shu? Do you _**really**_ believe that everything that has happened is because you were somehow lucky? Think about it boy. Do you think it is a mere coincidence that your sister was the first to contract the Apocalypse virus, yet of all people _**you**_ were born with the void that could quell it?" The insidious man beside Shu scoffed. "Do you think that you obtained the void Genome not once but twice was merely by chance?"

"I..." Shu struggled to come up with an argument that sounded convincing but none came.

"You still don't believe me Shu?" Segai frowned at the lack of understanding on Shu's part. "Then perhaps you have a better explanation. Or perhaps you can explain how it is that Haruka managed to end up with the final void Genome in her possession. If that is too difficult, perhaps try explaining your chance meeting with Miss Yuriziha."

"I... I... I can't." Shu stammered. Segai was right, it was a little too much to be mere coincidence.

"I can. Would you like me to?" Segai's face lit up with sadistic glee as he leaned over Shu's confined body.

Shu didn't answer, he wanted the truth, but wasn't truly sure if Segai would give it to him. Throughout their dealings Segai had always been a strange and distant individual. His actions had made him seem more like an unwilling participant, or perhaps simply a puppet. That's when it dawned on Shu. Maybe he wasn't lying. Maybe he was just doing his part in those days.

"Ahh... Realization. Don't be afraid Shu." Segai declared triumphantly as he observed the twisted expression on Shu's face. "Shu. Your destiny like your sister's will eventually come to fruition, it can be postponed, but never halted. I am simply a jester in your court, but it seems you have strayed from your chosen path and I had no choice but to pull you back into line."

"You're insane." Shu grumbled. Segai's ramblings were not bringing him any closer to understanding the situation than he was a few days prior.

"Perhaps. Still, you lack motivation, certain individuals within Sephirah have decided that you need the proper influence. Unfortunately, you are the key to generating that influence. Your unique abilities have allowed you to suppress the heart of a certain woman. We will need that if we are to continue." Segai smiled as he motioned toward the back of the room.

Shu could see the feint outline of a familiar shape in the back of the dark room. A spherical shape housing what appeared to be a human woman. Deep in Shu's core he knew better, she was anything but human.

"No..." Shu sighed heavily at the realization of what Segai was planning.

"Yes Shu! Step up and accept your crown. She's been waiting for you and I'm going to arrange a meeting between you." Segai cackled maniacally.

As if on cue a team of technicians in white lab coats entered the room. Dragging with them a sundry of monitors and menacing looking implements. Shu could only speculate that these devices would be used to extract the latent remains of his sister turned demon from his heart where the remaining ill will she harbored the world had taken up residence.

"I won't let you do this Segai." Shu's words broke in a frenzied slur as he struggled against the scientists surrounding him as they began connecting him to the various machinery they had brought into the room.

"I have no doubt about that Shu." Segai sneered at the boy, fixing him with an insane gaze. "Night night Shu." He chuckled as one of the scientists plunged a syringe into the IV that had been placed in Shu's left arm.

Shu could feel his eyes growing heavy again, darkness began overtaking him as he slowly slipped into unconsciousness.

? ? ?

The starry night sky shown clearly in the windows of the tower in Roppungi, it felt like an eternity since Shu had stood in this place, an eternity since he heard Inori's sad melody cascading through the moonlit room. At the same time it had not been long enough since he felt the pain of rejection at her hands. Shu had always remembered this particular night very vividly, this was the first time he realized that he was being used by everyone he cared about. This was the first time he felt truly alone in the world.

He watched as an all too familiar scene played out before his jaded adult eyes. A much younger and more timid version of himself inched across the dimly lit floor toward the girl that would ultimately shape his destiny in a way he never could have understood at that point in his life. Part of Shu wanted to look away, another part wanted to scream for the boy to run, and yet another part wanted to snatch both teens up and take them from this place before they made a decision that would ultimately change their lives irrevocably.

"If... Just if..." The terrified boy standing next to Inori stammered.

Shu couldn't help but cringe, he remembered how he felt when he said these words. His palms were sweating and his heart was racing.

"... I said let's leave Funeral Parlor together. Would you?" The younger Shu's voice cracked awkwardly as he reached out a trembling hand toward Inori.

"She will only hurt you." A mellow and almost sensual voice caressed Shu's ear. He could feel her body pressing against his own and it sent a chill down his spine that served to intensify the twinge he felt as he watched Inori pull her hand away from his younger self.

"You took longer than I expected." Shu mused to the woman standing behind him. "I've felt you now for a long time."

"I'm sorry Shu, it was hard for me to wait too, but the timing had to be right." Mana's voice cheered up significantly at his seeming acceptance of her presence. "It's okay though, we can finally be together now."

"Is that really what you want? I thought you wouldn't forgive me." Shu shrugged refusing to turn to acknowledge her.

"Oh Shu, I could never stay mad at you, I love you too much for that. We're meant to be together after all." She giggled as she danced around in front of him grasping his hands in her own. "Besides, you _**are **_sorry aren't you?"

Shu took a moment to ponder her question as he did he stared into her scarlet eyes, her features now were much more like her own than the host she had chosen three years ago and it hurt him how much she looked like the sister he lost on that cold December afternoon. "I regret... Many things..." He whispered, carefully choosing his words.

"I've missed you Shu." Mana's eyes lit up gleefully at his words as she threw herself against him wrapping her slender arms around his chest.

"I've lied to myself for a long time." Shu's voice dripped with trepidation as he gently returned the embrace. "I even chose to forget about you, but in the end I realize. We have an unfinished destiny."

"Shu... I knew things would be different this time, I knew you wouldn't break my heart again." Mana sobbed into the boy's chest.

Shu gulped, swallowing his pride and trying to hide his fear. "I'm going to do what I should have done years ago." He smiled as he ran his fingers through her silky hair.

"Just a little bit longer my love and we'll be together." She whispered as she caressed his cheek.

Sephirah Genomics Primary Research Facility : Tokyo 2058 Hours Saturday November 7th 2042

"Major, everything is going according to plan. He's hardly even resisting, are you ready to go ahead and begin the transfer?" One of the scientists reported as he furiously punched commands into the terminal in front of him.

'Not resisting? What are you planning Shu?' Segai thought to himself as he watched the unconscious boy laying peacefully before him. "Not just yet, map all of the genomes you can isolate, send the information to the off site backup facility. There is no room for error this time." Segai ordered, still pondering why Shu was not fighting Mana with all of his might. "When you're done with that you may revive her. I'm going out for a walk." Segai continued.

"Very well sir." The technician, clearly the senior among them acknowledged.

A few minutes later Segai stared up at the tower from the cold sidewalk below. Along side him was a black sedan the door of which was held open by a GHQ soldier. "Hmmph.. Perhaps you've grown up more than I anticipated Shu." Segai mocked.

"Sir, are you ready to go? The General is expecting a report soon." The soldier bellowed to the Major.

"Yeah yeah... Let's get this over with." He replied nonchalantly stepping into the car.

Sephirah Genomics Primary Research Facility : Tokyo 2110 Hours Saturday November 7th 2042

"That's it, start bringing them both back." The lead scientist barked to his counterparts.

Brightly colored warnings flared up across all of the monitors as the technicians moved cautiously away from Shu's body. The room seemed to shake with a wicked reverberation that was punctuated with a gasp emanating from the tomb that had held Mana's new body.

Steam hissed from the conduits overhead and in the darkness she moved, slowly at first then more rapidly. She carried herself with an inhuman grace.

"What are you doing to him?" Mana's voice cracked as she fixed her icy gaze on the engineers standing over Shu. "Stay away from him." She hissed. Her ultimatum caused the two engineers who had not already fled to make an attempt at escaping.

She pondered for a moment whether or not to kill them only for her deranged thoughts to be interrupted by the sight of Shu bound to the altar before her.

"Shu?" Mana spoke with a deep concern for the barely conscious boy. "Let me help you with that." She ran her hand down his arm causing the bindings at his wrists and ankles to crumble away in a crystalline fashion. She bent over next to him attempting to hoist him from the gurney.

Shu groaned as he felt his body becoming lighter. He saw her features strain as she attempted to heave his weight from the altar. "Mana..." His voice was sad at the realization that he was once again conscious and she was now standing before him in the physical world.

"Don't worry, I'm here now, nobody will hurt you anymore." She reassured as she finally got him to his feet. Her voice resonated with a soft loving tone as she gently held him in her arms.

Shu felt sick, she was so kind to him now, but he knew the monster she was, he knew what she wanted and what she was capable of. He could feel her naked form pressing against him, almost instinctively he removed the heavy black pea-coat he had been wearing and wrapped it around her shoulders.

Her eyes met his own, puzzled by his actions she asked. "Are you not attracted to me?"

"You deserve better." Shu mumbled half-heartedly in reply.

"Better than what? I'm with you now I need nothing else." Mana smiled lovingly at the boy, her eyes still locked on his.

"I hate myself for letting things get this far..." Shu choked, tears were welling up in his eyes as he looked at the content expression on his sister's face. "... You, Gai... Everyone. I couldn't change anything."

"It's okay, I would forgive you anything." She pulled him closer as she softly spoke the words. "You don't have to hurt anymore Shu, we can make the ideal world together."

"You're wrong." Shu replied defiantly, but did not attempt to pull himself from her embrace, instead he wrapped his arms around her. "I will always suffer... But maybe..." His voice trailed off.

She looked up at him curiously. "Maybe what?"

"Maybe you can finally have peace..." He replied glumly. "Do you remember when we were kids?"

"Not really... I don't remember much before you rejected me at Christmas time..." Mana's eyes saddened as she realized she had little recollection of what Shu was asking about.

Shu could feel anger boiling in the pit of his stomach causing hot bile to lurch up into his throat.. 'So she really is gone.' He thought to himself of his beloved sister. "That's too bad... It was really nice..."

"Why?" She asked, still staring intently at him, searching his features for an answer to her question.

"You were my best friend." Shu's voice choked up with the words, he could feel his eyes burning as tears hung perched in them. "You and Gai, you were my family. I didn't need anything else, that was the last time I was truly happy I think."

"Shu?" She recoiled slightly at his words confused by their meaning.

"I have all of this power, and I can't save anyone." His heart sank with each word.

"What do you mean Shu? You chose me in the end right? That's what matters." Mana was still unsure of what Shu was saying, her desire to seduce him had consumed every waking thought. Even now as he was holding her in his arms she couldn't even communicate with him. "I love you Shu..." She offered, it was all she knew anymore.

"I love you too..." The words fell from his mouth in heartbroken pieces as his free hand fumbled around on the table behind him. After seconds that felt like an eternity it finally fell on a scalpel. "...sis."

"Hmm?" She questioned insistently watching his awkward actions.

"Please don't hate me for this." He replied as he grasped the razor sharp implement. "I'll be with you until the end." He pulled her tighter to him. He felt her shake as her entire body tensed in his arms. "I'm so sorry, please find the peace you deserve."

A flash of brilliant light, a pained shriek and heartbreaking sobs filled the room. This was the end for them.

"This is best." Shu reassured himself. He clutched his dying sister in his arms as the last of her out of control power tore through the building around them. He sank to his knees, still cradling Mana in his arms. Her eyes, though still the deranged crimson they had been since her unfortunate childhood, held peace for the first time in nearly ten years.

"I'm sorry." She coughed. Blood spattered onto her pale lips. "You should run Shu... This place will probably be destroyed."

"Not this time. Even if I die here it doesn't matter. I won't run away." Shu replied resolutely.

"You were always the brave one." She smiled to her brother, indicating that at least now she had regained some of her fleeting memories. "I'm cold Shu..."

Her eyes had become glassy and her expression dull. She was dying, a mortal death this time, something much more heart wrenching than Shu had experienced in the past.

"You'll be warm soon." He lied. He had no idea what lay ahead for either of them, but imparting the comforting words helped.


End file.
